BCC chair regrets that some BCC members are suspected of law-breaking

Corneliu Mihalache, the chairman of the Broadcasting Coordination Council (BCC), regrets that some members of the Council are suspected of extortion. At the same time, Mihalache expressed his confidence in a press release issued on June 19 that the ongoing investigations will be accurate and will clarify this case. According to Mihalache, various interest groups have launched speculations concerning this case, aiming to spoil the image of the national audiovisual authority. Yet, Mihalache mentioned that the presumption of innocence is applicable to the case of Ruslan Plesca, a member of the Council, and to the Council in general. Mihalache said that he wasn’t aware of specific details concerning the investigation, and announced that the Broadcasting Coordination Council has not launched an internal investigation on this case. According to a press release, the Centre for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption has initiated a penal case concerning the extortion from the president of a TV company of 60 thousands euros by certain members of the BCC. Allegedly, the BCC representatives have promised to the TV Company special protection and a broadcasting license, in exchange for money. The suspects are Ruslan Plesca and the director of a Balti-based radio transmission company. At the end of the last week, warrants of preventive arrest have been issued on their names. After the two suspects have given testimony, representatives from the Centre for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption have started an investigation examining the complicity of two other members of BCC – Ludmila Vasilache and Valeriu Soltan. Ludmila Vasilache, and Vlad Turcanu, her colleague from BCC who has also been detained, assume that these penal actions might have been initiated because of their recent activity and decisions taken in the BCC. At a press conference, Vasilache stated that this intimidation campaign could be caused by their efforts to make some changes. She also mentioned that for the first time, during the recent election campaign, Turcanu, Valeriu Frumusache and she issued public warnings to the company “Teleradio-Moldova” and to NIT TV channel.