Experts criticise ACC

The Audiovisual Coordinating Council (ACC) has failed to fully cope with its tasks outlined in the Audiovisual Code. This conclusion has been drawn by those 11 media and human rights NGOs, which monitored the observance of the Code during 6 months, within the frameworks of a project, under the aegis of the Electronic Press Association (APEL), Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the vice-chairman of the Committee for Defence of Human and Professional Dignity (CADUP) Corina Fusu, the process of applying the provisions of the new legislation in the field had a faulty start. For instance, the ACC was formed without transparency, it lacked public debates and clear selection criteria, and the opinion of the civil society and the European Council’s recommendations were ignored. In addition, Corina Fusu said Parliament ignored ACC members’ opinions when voting the members of the Supervisory Board of the Public Institution “Teleradio Moldova”. The monitoring team considers that the inadequate application of the new legislation brought about the “Antena C and Euro TV case”. The way in which these institutions were reorganised, led to depriving the public of its right to information, to ignoring the municipal community’s opinion, to the infringement of the staff members’ rights. Given these circumstances, experts consider that there should be an implication of the decision makers in improving the situation, so that the aim of the new law could be attained and the European perspective of Moldova would not discredited. “Monitoring of the Audiovisual Code implementation” Project, financed by the Moldova Soros Foundation, aims to institute a public control mechanism on the way in which the new media legislation is applied. The project started on January 1 and will end on December 31.