Communist councilors threaten to dismiss directors of municipal broadcasting stations “Antena C” and “Euro TV”

The communist members from the Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC) threaten the mangers of “Antena C” radio station and “Euro TV Chisinau” station, that both are municipal broadcasting institutions, that they will dismiss them if they will continue to broadcast programs which the communist members describe as “having a propagandist character and of convicting the Russian nation and the Soviet Army”. An official declaration was made in this context, from behalf of the communist members, by the councilor Nicolae Motoc. According to Motoc, the communist members and “a part of the capital’s inhabitants” are displeased with the fact that the two municipal broadcasting stations, for a period of several days, in the shows dedicated to the date of 65 years of the beginning of the fascist’s aggressions against the Soviet Union, blamed the soviet solders of killings and destructions. Moreover, Motoc said that at the shows there were invited historians that propagated “the idea that our country was occupied by fascist armies, with the so-called goal of freedom and adherence to Romania”, as well as blaming the Russian nation. “We qualify this editorial policy as a clear manifestation of xenophobia and a threat against the statehood of the Republic of Moldova. We draw the attention of the Council, as well as the attention of the entire society that this kind of way of events reflecting is unacceptable in the context of the journalistic ethics and also of general human values, especially for the mass-media that exists due to tax-payers contribution and has a statute of public institution”, the declaration of communist councilors says. Finally, the communist faction requested the leaders of this two broadcasting stations, Vasile State and Arcadie Gherasim, “ to immediately revise the broadcasting chart in order to reflect the interests of all citizens, not only of a small group of persons”, otherwise the faction will use the right to initiate the demission of the two mangers. The manager of the radio station “Antena C”, Vasile State, rejects any accusations, qualifying them as “ having no basis, proofs and even lacking seriousness due to the fact that local elected persons have no better reason to control and pressure the leadership of “Antena C”. According to him, the radio station is free to build its editorial policy in an independent way, tacking into consideration the activity concept it must respect, as well as the interests of the audience. He qualifies the gesture of the communist councilors as interference in the editorial policy of the radio station “Antena C”, this being not the first time when the station is “the goal of pressures in CMC”. State added that the team of “Antena C” will continue working in the limits of deontological norms, serving the interest of the audience and in no case the one of political groups. No other fraction, as well as no other councilor from CMC didn’t express his agreement or disagreement towards the declaration of the communist faction during CMC session. Moreover, immediately after this, the chairman of the Commission for Culture, Mass-media and Inter-ethnical relations, Victor Grebenscicov, made an interpellation about the car accidents taking place on pedestrian crossings, without commenting in any way the communists declaration against municipal broadcasting, and the head of the People’s Christian Democratic Party faction, Alexandru Corduneanu, addressed an interpellation regarding illegal constructions in the municipality.