The cessation of Channel 5 by the Council for the Promotion of Investment Projects of National Importance represents a new attack on the free press, said representatives of the TV channel, who noted that this state body has practically the same composition as the Commission for Emergency Situations – members of the Cabinet, including Prime Minister Dorin Recean. Moreover, some of the Council members don’t even know based on what arguments the decision to stop the transmission of the channel was taken even if they signed it, while jurists doubt that this Council has such a power, namely to cease a TV station.
“On March 21, we learned from the press that all the permissive documents of Channel 5, including the broadcast license, will be suspended. We found out that it was a government press release pointing to suspicions about links with a criminal group. On March 22, I received a letter from the Council, describing the reasons in detail. It goes to the minutes of the Council’s meeting,” producer Svetlana Curmei told a press conference hosted by IPN.
According to her, one of the reasons stipulated in the Council’s decision is that Channel 5 employed people who were previously employed at other TV stations that were suspended. The journalist noted that the migration from one TV studio to another is a natural process on the media market and Channel 5 employed people who worked not only at stations that were closed, but also at broadcasters that are still active today. “In general, is it forbidden for an employee to move from one position to another? Yes, some moved together with their author projects and this is also a widespread practice. This was done because these people were left without work, while the channel needed its own content,” stated Svetlana Curmei.
The producer noted that another rather curious reason is that the editorial office and the studio are located at 1 Ghioceilor Street, where the suspended TV stations operated previously. “Yes, it is so. But that is the largest studio complex where there are many people who rent space there. We rent absolutely legally and there are confirmation documents in this regard. Is this a violation of the legislation. Or is affiliation with criminal groups transmitted through walls, through equipment?” asked rhetorically Svetlana Curmei.
“The third reason is the most impressive one. The Security and Intelligence Service determined that the phone number of the manager of Channel 5 was identical to that of the manager of Channel 2 and 3 and this was a proof of the connection with Plahotniuc and Shor,” said Svetlana Curmei. According to her, reference is made to a register. In fact, the phone numbers are different. “So, these three reasons are the worst crime detected at Channel 5. We sent to the Council all the documents that the economic agent possesses, including financial documents. But, as we saw in the decision, the Council had no objection, but there were these three reasons – migration of employees with their projects, the address and the phone number, which was wrong.
According to Svetlana Curmei, in these circumstances, it seems that it doesn’t matter if you comply with the Code of Audiovisual Media Services. Even if there was no violation, but someone wants to stop the work of a station, this happens. There are legal instruments to cease a broadcaster and they are available to the Broadcasting Council. However, in order to make use of them, there must be violations, but since Channel 5 didn’t commit any there was no basis. That’s why they used the Council for the Promotion of Investment Projects, as it was previously done through the Commission for Emergency Situations.
Note: IPN Agency offers the right of reply to persons who consider themselves targeted in the news made from the statements of the organizers of this press conference, including by facilitating the organization of another press conference under similar conditions.
