Persecuted Moldova 1 journalists win case at ECHR

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) Thursday passed its judgment in the case of Manole and others versus Moldova, holding unanimously that the journalists' right to free expression was violated. By its decision, the ECHR obliges the government to modify the legislation on the combating and prevention of censorship in mass media, Info-Prim Neo reports. “I am very happy. It is the first victory of the Teleradio-Moldova journalists, who had great courage to struggle while working at a government-controlled institution. After fighting during eight years against foolishness and mediocrity, the journalists who fought against the armed forces and Voronin brought a wind of change,” said MP and journalist Corina Fusu, who was among the plaintiffs. She said that during the next weeks the Parliament will examine a bill on the freedom of expression, which is based namely on this decision by the ECHR. “I am confident that the politicians who came to power will change the situation, but we must be attentive because any power is tempted to appropriate the public television and impose censorship. I do not have yet reasons to suspect them,” said presenter Mircea Surdu. The journalist said that though he remained to work at Moldova 1, he did not change his views. “If you find a nonobjective, impartial program, I'm ready to quit,” he said. The former presenter of the news program “Mesager” Larisa Manole said that she has long expected to appear on the screen and announce that the Communists have been defeated and her dream came true by this decision. The plaintiffs will be paid pecuniary or non pecuniary damages and will be reinstated in the post if they want to. The plaintiffs' lawyer Vitalie Nagacevschi said that the Government of Moldova and Teleradio-Moldova have three months at the disposal to submit written observations to the Court or to eventually reach an amicable agreement with the plaintiffs. On February 25, 2002, 331 employees of Moldova 1 TV channel issued a statement, protesting against the censorship. In two days, they entered a passive strike and produced non-censured materials. During the next months, the leaders of the Strike Committee had been persecuted. On July 26, 2002, the state-run company Teleradio-Moldova became a public company. The employees of the old state-owned company were reselected. The plaintiffs who worked at the News Department and most of those who went on strike were not confirmed to the posts. The plaintiffs complained to the ECHR that from February 2001, no Opposition party has benefited from airtime. The reports that expressed a different viewpoint than that of the Communists Party and such expressions as Romanian, the Romanian language, Bessarabia, totalitarian regime were banned. Mentions to certain historical periods like the organized hunger in the USSR, the Stalinist rule and deportations and the national revival period of 1989 were also banned.