SEEMO concerned at violence against Moldovan journalists, in letter to Greceanai, Mejinschi

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organization (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists from South East Europe, wishes to express its concern at the violence recently perpetrated against media representatives in Moldova. The message is in a letter signed by SEEMO's secretary general, Oliver Vujovic, addressed to Prime-Minister Zinaida Greceanai and Interior Minister Valentin Mejinschi, Info-Prim Neo reports. . According to information before SEEMO, in the late evening of 8 October 2008, Mihai Sambra, a cameraman for PRO TV, a television station, was arrested by a police patrol in Chisinau. He was detained, and beaten during the night. Sambra was released the following morning, without receiving any explanation for his arrest. He suffered trauma from the incident, and sustained a broken nose. Other PRO TV staff was reportedly also intimidated by the police while reporting on a trial in Orhei during the morning of 8 October 2008.. “SEEMO calls on Your Excellencies to initiate an immediate investigation into these incidents, and to send a strong signal that such violence against the media will not be toleratede”, reads the letter of the international organization. On October 3, 2008, SEEMO asked the same Moldovan officials to give up harassing journalists from Ziarul de Garda.