Two BCC members bothered by Premier's statements on mass-media

Two members of the Broadcasting Coordination Council (BCC), Corneliu Mihalache and Vitalie Tabunshchik, expressed their dissatisfaction with the statements made by Prime Minister Vlad Filat, who said the mass media organizations that do not observe the right to freedom of opinion of those concerned will be penalized. “We are indignant at the dictatorial behavior of some of the political leaders towards the mass media. Such statements that are antidemocratic in their essence reveal unhidden wishes to restrict this right and can question Moldova's pro-European aspirations,” the two BCC members say in a statement. According to Corneliu Mihalache and Vitalie Tabunshchik, the attempts to amend the legislation and toughen up the penalties can lead to the sterilization of the mass media and, respectively, of the democratic process in society. The BCC members say any attempt by the authorities to interfere in the editorial policy is inadmissible as the establishment of censorship at state level will be a real consequence. “The Broadcasting Code says the broadcasters have the right to freely decide the content of their programs. Any censorship on broadcasting is banned,” says the statement. In a program on the public TV channel Moldova 1, after the September 5 referendum, the Premier stressed the necessity of instituting regulations for the mass media. He said the mass media outlets that erroneously or unilaterally covered the referendum campaign should be punished. Later, after a Cabinet meeting, Vlad Filat said he refereed especially to the private TV channel NIT that does not objectively inform the people and does not respect the right to freedom of opinion of those concerned, according to him.