Anti-Corruption police find no breaches at radio Vocea Basarabiei

No significant violations have been discovered in the financial-economic activity of the Vocea Basarabiei radio station. The controlling organs have applied no sanctions. The statements were made during a news conference on Wednesday, March 19, by the station’s founders, Info-Prim Neo reports. Three officers from the Economic Crimes and Corruption Combating Center (ECCCC) have performed a financial checkup of the station during ten days, on the basis of an ordinance issued by the General Prosecutor’s office, under the pretext that Vocea Basarabiei would have admitted financial frauds and it is necessary to verify the mode of expending grants obtained from Romania. The General Prosecutor’s office started a probe on 25 December 2007, against the station, under the accusation of “instigation to overthrowing the constitutional regime.” Many listeners, having spoken in the interactive program “Forum”, were summoned as witnesses in the investigation. Vocea Basarabiei’s co-founder, Veaceslav Tabuleac, has stated the ECCCC officers were surprised to find out that the station made no profit from advertising in 2007 and the station was running in harsh financial conditions, the support from abroad being vital. Veaceslav Tabuleac believes other controls will follow up, but has expressed hope they will fail, too. Another co-founder of Vocea Basarabiei, Valeriu Saharneanu, the president of the Moldovan Journalists Union, has said the dossier was invented to compromise the radio station and to mar any link with the external donors. The founders cannot explain the link between the economic-financial checkup and the probe started by the prosecutor. Their counselor Constantin Tănase insisted that during three months no founder, presenter, or listener was interrogated as suspects and were not accused in such a serious dossier as the one on instigating to overthrowing the regime. Up to the moment, the law-enforcing bodies have presented no recordings or other evidence to the station’s administration. The founders announce that, shortly, they will publish the content of the broadcasts of November 9-18, the prosecutors make reference to, in the Chisinau press and on their web-site. At the news conference, the listeners of Vocea Basarabiei has said they were summoned by the police as witnesses in the probe against the station. Constantin Butucel from Sangera says they asked him since when, how often and why he listened to Vocea Basarabiei and if he had called on to overthrowing the regime, on air. The listener says he gave a negative answer to the last question, but he acknowledged he repeatedly called President Vladimir Voronin a liar. The station’s management is expecting the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice in another lawsuit on depriving Vocea Basarabiei of the frequency in Causeni and giving it to a Russian-language station, who gained no vote at the license-granting contest. The founders are certain highest-top dignitaries intervened to withdraw their license. “It’s a political order pursuing to restrict the access of the station within the informational space in the Transnistrian area, where that frequency can be heard,” they say. “Vocea Basarabiei” announce it will launch a new notification to the Parliament to resume broadcasting live the plenary sittings.