The mass media NGOs express their concern about the continuous worsening of the situation of the Moldovan press, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting a statement signed by eight mass media nongovernmental organizations. According to the authors of the document, even if President Vladimir Voronin and Prime Minister Zinaida Greceanyi state that they stick to the principles of a free press, the cases when the journalists are intimidated, the rights to free expression are violated and the press is subdued grow in number. This time, the authorities focused on the paper “Moldavskye vedomosti”, which was subjected to financial controls by the Center for Combating Corruption and Economic Crime as part of a legal case instituted by the General Prosecutor’s Office over an alleged misappropriation of foreign property in extremely large amounts. Such an accusation was brought against the paper after it published materials advertising the Soroca Quarry. The arguments produced by the law enforcement bodies to prove that the periodical appropriated foreign property are doubtful if we look at the definition of this offence, according to the Penal Code, article 191: “taking of sb else’s money or property for yourself, especially when they have trusted you to take care of it”. But “Moldavskie Vedomosti” signed a civil contract regulated by the civil law by which the applicant pays for the services offered by the provider. This time again, the Prosecutor General’s Office ignored the law and did not inform the “MV” editorial office about the legal action taken against the paper and about the reasons why it was taken. Also, the editorial office was not asked to give testimony. The media NGOs denounce the three-day detention of journalist Oleg Brega, who was arrested for the simple intention to peacefully protest in front of the National Palace, where a festivity was held to mark the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the public television. The police hindered Oleg Brega from approaching the National Palace, while the Buiucani District Court ruled that the placard with the inscription “50 Years of Lie” carried by Brega was “injury” and sentenced him to three days under arrest, violating thus a number of legal provisions and international norms on the right to opinion and free expression. The cameraman Ghenadie Brega, who accompanied Oleg Brega and filmed the incident with the police, was fined. On May 10, Ghenadie Brega, who was protesting in front of the Government against the detention of his brother, was ill-treated by police officers dressed in civilian, arrested and taken to the police department of Buiucani district, where he had been kept for 48 hours in inhuman and degrading conditions, being accused of insubordination, resistance and insult to the police. According to the authors of the statement, the authorities’ intention to subdue the Opposition mass media and the critical voices also came out during the meetings of the Broadcasting Coordination Council held on May 7 and 8, when the Council distributed licenses for 16 radio frequencies and 60 TV frequencies. The Broadcasting Code says that the license must be issued by observing the principle of pluralism in broadcasting, excluding the possibility of creating conditions for instituting monopoly and concentrating property in the areas of broadcasting and mass media in general, taking into account the compliance of the existent licensed broadcasters with the given requirements. But none of the licenses put up for tender was offered to the stations that offer access to the Opposition or broadcast opinions critical of the present government. The radio station “Vocea Basarabiei” won none of the eight FM frequencies for which it applied. The media NGOs stress that this station applied for a frequency in Chisinau for the 26th time, but all in vain. Instead, the stations that belong to the political parties that ally with the ruling party, PRCM and PPCD, obtained over 20 frequencies. According to the authors, the Council’s behavior shows that the decisions are made outside the Council, while its members express only biased interests. The mass media NGOs ask the authorities to stop interfering in the activity of the Council and to punish the people that intimidate the mass media and mistreat the journalists. The signatories - the Independent Journalism Center, the Independent Press Association, the Association of Electronic Press, the Journalistic Investigations Center, the Young Journalist’s Center, the Committee for the Freedom of the Press, the Union of Journalists of Moldova, Acces-Info Center – call on the civil society, the political parties and European representatives to make common cause with the independent press and take steps to stop the antidemocratic tendencies aimed at undermining the pluralism and freedom of expression in Moldova.