BCC chair regrets closing down of FM 103.5 radio

The chairman of the Broadcasting Coordination Council, Vlad Turcanu, affirms that the decision to offer the frequency of the Balti-based FM 103.5 radio station to another broadcaster was a mistake. According to Turcanu, a recent monitoring of the station found out some violations of the Audiovisual Code. “We made a mistake because the station was broadcasting local news, even though not in the official language. As a result, the radio listeners from Balti were deprived of an alternative information source”, the CCA chairman said. Turcanu further stated that he personally judged things according to the Code, which stipulates a specific number of programmes in the official language. “We acted according to the law, but we didn’t reason in the spirit of the law. We were inexperienced and didn’t reason objectively”, mentioned Turcanu. Referring to the cases of “Antena C” and “Euro TV”, Turcanu, as well as the BCC deputy chairman Ludmila Vasilache, said that they could do nothing about it, as the Code includes specific requirements for the public broadcasters, and the decisions could only be made by the Chisinau City Council. Interviewed by Info-Prim Neo, the founder of the FM 103.5 radio station, Sergiu Cebotari, said that the recent statements of the BCC chairman clearly demonstrate the illegitimacy of the BCC decision in February. He hopes that in view of the current situation, things will work out easier in the lawsuit against BCC. Cebotari hopes that the lawsuit will not be necessary if the broadcasting authority reconsiders the actions. He is ready to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights if the domestic courts fail to re-establish justice. Cebotari also mentioned when FM 103.5 still had a license, it was broadcasting news in Romanian and Russian in equal proportions. CCA offered the frequency 103.5 in Balti to City FM radio station on February 13, 2007. Later, Colleen Graffy, U.S. deputy assistant Secretary of State, said that the U.S. Government and Embassy were deeply concerned about the situation of mass-media in Moldova. The cases of the stations “Antena C”, “Euro TV”, and “FM 103.5” have become a worrisome trend, she said. The privatisation of the two municipal stations and the decision to close down FM 103.5, were also deplored by political and social leaders in Moldova.