The way the municipal stations Antena C and Euro TV were privatised must be reviewed at least for the sake of truth. Info-Prim Neo Interview with Ana Lucia Culev, Chisinau deputy mayor.

[- After the local elections, the Social-Democrat faction in the City Council was the only one to propose the re-examination of the privatisation procedure for Antena C and Euro TV stations, but it didn’t find any support. As deputy mayor of Chisinau, what do you think is to be done next about the two stations?] Whenever I’m asked about Antena C and Euro TV, I say that a great injustice has been committed against them. If we pretend that nothing has happened, it will be cowardice. No laws, no human actions can justify the change of a good thing into something wrong. I do believe that we must go over again the procedure of privatising the stations. But the proposal of the Social-Democrats was rather ill-timed. I don’t think that at that moment all the aspects of that problem would have been given the required attention. First, we have to make sure that all the persons who were involved in destroying the stations will not be members of the committees to be created. We all know that abuses have been committed. And the issue must be re-examined, at least for the sake of truth, even if the public station cannot be opened until changes occur and the Broadcasting Code amended. [- Who and when do you think will formulate a draft decision for the reassessment of the privatisation procedure?] It doesn’t matter who will do it. Just before entering the hall where the deputy mayors were supposed to be elected, the Mayor told me that the stations’ privatisation issue is very serious and maybe even the first we must start with. I had the chance to speak on that matter at the Council’s meeting. We shall reveal the truth. It is not yet the time to go into details, so as not to leave room for manoeuvres for the malevolent persons. [- You were decided to go to Strasbourg if the domestic courts fail to re-establish justice. At what stage is the examination of the case filed by the staffers of the liquidated stations?] We reached the Supreme Court of Justice which returned the case to the Court of Appeals for re-examination. The next court sitting is scheduled for September 26. [- The leader of the Liberal-Democrat faction Alexandru Tanase stated before the voting procedure that he was going to vote for you as a gesture of recompense for the moral harm caused by the closedown of Antena C and Euro TV. Do you think that the other councillors voted for the same reason? I think it was one of the reasons. But I would like to believe it was also due to my trenchant position on Antena C. Whenever there were problems concerning the existence of municipal public station, during the 2004 crisis as well as when people learned about the secret works on a new Broadcasting Code, I was there to express my position. Furthermore, during my shows I have always tried to be unbiased and to censure all kinds of abuses. Maybe this is the reason why they thought I could bring back the truth.