Journalists Union to resume plain-air debates protesting against public Teleradio-Moldova being politically dominated

The Moldovan Journalists Union (MJU) will resume, starting October 12, the plain-air public debates organized “as a protest against the political domination of the ruling Communists Party over the public company Teleradio-Moldova”. The debates will be held in the Opera Theater's square, Info-Prim Neo has learnt from a communique issued by the MJU. The authors of the document call on Moldovan citizens, media and human rights NGOs, craft associations, democratic political parties to join the manifestations and to actively participate in the debates pursuing the political emancipation of the public broadcasting and straightening democracy in Moldova. They say they will organize the public debates till next spring in the same place starting at 11.00. According to the MJU, tens of citizens from towns and villages, a large number of representatives of political parties, of the civil society, opinion leaders, journalists voiced their opinions freely at those almost 30 plain-air debates held previously. “The impact of the uttered speeches was increased thousands of times as they were broadcast by the independent station "Vocea Basarabiei", were covered in news programs of independent radio and TV stations, were reported by independent news agencies and newspapers.” The Journalists Union started the plain-air public debates on 10 December 2007, as they continued till later in May 2008. Debates of this kind were staged in other localities over the summer. The debates were started following the appeal of the UN announcing a one year campaign to mark 60 years since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, an event to be globally celebrated on December 10, 2008.