Media nongovernmental organizations express their regret at the decision to restrict the mass media’s access to the June 19 hearing where the seat of the mayor-elect of Chisinau was to be validated. The signatories called on the Superior Council of Magistracy, which manages the judicial system, to maintain an open climate in justice and to support the press in its efforts to cover important events from the public agenda, IPN reports.

According to the statement, judge Rodica Berdilo, of the Centru branch of the Court of Chisinau, restricted the participation by the press in the hearing. The journalists were allowed to enter the courtroom only after the deliberations that lasted for four hours and the judgement was passed at 10pm. The representatives of the many media organizations who came to cover an event of public interest were surprised to hear that they should leave the courtroom given that the press had free access to the previous hearing that was chaired by another judge.

The NGOs remind that the role of the mass media is to inform the country’s citizens about the events that can influence their life, rights and interests and one of the authorities’ obligations is to ensure the good functioning of the institutions and mechanisms that provide the given information. For the purpose, the mass media have the right to make recordings, to film and phytography and to attend public hearings of the courts of law of any level.

The statement was signed by the Independent Journalism Center, the Association of Independent Press, the Electronic Press Association, the Journalistic Investigations Center, the Committee for the Freedom of the Press, the Association of Independent Tele-Journalists and  “Acces-Info” Center.