Strasbourg court asks Moldovan government for explanations on TVR 1 case

The Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has notified the government of Moldova of the application lodged by the Romanian Television Corporation (SRTV) and ordered the government to explain until 26 February 2009 the reasons for withdrawing the frequency on which SRTV used to broadcast the channel TVR 1 in Moldova. The Romanian government has been invited to act as a third party in this case, Info-Prim Neo reports. Janeta Hanganu, lawyer for SRTV, has told a news conference on Monday that the application will be examined in due course of time and not urgently, because, once the license withdrawn, there's no further harm that can be caused. “Even if the complaint is examined in standard periods of time, we hope that will bring the desired outcome and TVR 1 will be able to resume broadcasting on Moldovan territory”, said Janeta Hanganu. The lawyer says that ECHR may pronounce a decision in this case by the end of 2009. If the suit drags on until 2011, when SRTV's broadcasting license will have expired, it could be extended at least for a period equal to that during which SRTV wasn't able to use the frequency, Hanganu explained. The Romanian Television Corporation lodged an application with the ECHR on 1 August 2008, after the Chisinau Court of Appeals and the Moldovan Supreme Court of Justice rejected the complaint against the Broadcasting Coordination Council, where SRTV sought to regain the right to broadcast TVR 1 in Moldovan air. At the Strasbourg court, SRTV complained that its rights to freedom of expression and to property had been violated, bearing in mind that it owned a license valid until 2011. On 31 July 2007, the Broadcasting Council offered the network which used to rebroadcast TVR 1 for auction, arguing that SRTV had failed to sign a new agreement with the Moldovan communication authorities and settle an alleged debt of some $150,000. On 27 September 2007, the Broadcasting Council awarded a license for the use of the mentioned network to a channel called 2 Plus, owned by Telefe-M International.