Oazu Nantoi accuses BCC of not respecting the Broadcasting Code

The Broadcasting Coordination Council (BCC) didn’t move a muscle to respond to the petition filed by the citizen Oazu Nantoi, who requested that the Council verify the compliance of the television programme “Rezonans” with the provisions of the Broadcasting Code, Nantoi told a news conference today. This proves that the BCC is not functional, he concluded. Nantoi explained that in July he petitioned the Council to determine whether the respective televised magazine, which is broadcast on the national TV station Moldova 1, conforms to the laws regulating the audiovisual and to the Constitution. Later, he got an answer from the former BCC chairman Corneliu Mihalache, which was in fact a document issued by the management of Moldova 1. Nantoi didn’t find it adequate and petitioned the Council again. He was told that the petition would be examined by the Council after the BCC members returned to work from the summer recess. As the promise wasn’t kept, Nantoi decided to bring the BCC to court. He also wrote a letter to Speaker Marian Lupu to inform him of the case. Oazu Nantoi explained his actions by saying that, in his view, the producers of Rezonans, which runs on the public television, brutally violate his constitutional rights as a citizen. In his words the producers of the programme give consciously a false interpretation to the facts, promote one-sided and biased views and bar any alternative opinions. During the conference, Nantoi said that the ‘overnight European integration’ type statements are getting milder as Moldova slides towards the election campaign. Whereas before the 2005 legislative elections the Communists tried to become more democratic, fearing an orange revolution, today the ruling party is getting back to its ‘traditional practices’. In fact, the government has set up a media-holding in Moldova to promote cynical brainwashing ahead of the 2009 elections, Oazu Nantoi concluded.