First court sitting on suit filed by “Antenea C” and “Euro TV” against CMC and Mayor to be held on January 9

The first court sitting on the suit brought by the employees of the municipal stations “Antena C” and ‘Euro TV Chisinau” against the Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC) and interim mayor Vasile Ursu will take place at the Court of Appeal on January 9. Ecaterina Mitin-Stratan, vice director of “Antena C”, and one of the plaintiffs, told Info-Prim Neo that the sitting of the court had to be held on Friday, January 5, but because the employees failed to provide their lawyer with a mandate, the trial was adjourned until Tuesday, at 10:00. Thirty-seven employees of the two institutions have requested to urgently suspend the procedure of selling the two institutions and annul the precursory normative documents; to cancel interim mayor’s orders regarding the appointment of new managers of the TV channel and radio station; to oblige CMC and interim mayor to re-establish the normal functioning conditions of the institutions; to oblige CMC and interim mayor to pay damages totalling 100,000 lei to each plaintiff. CMC decided on November 30, due to the votes of the communist and Christian democrat councillors, to reorganise the two institutions by auctioning them off. On December 14, the same councillors dismissed the managers of the two municipal broadcasting stations. Both decisions were disputed by the employees, media organisations and MPs, who qualified them as illegal and politicised.