The arrest of a Pro TV Chisinau employee is an attack against an independent press institution – Serafim Urecheanu

The arrest of the sales manager of the Pro TV Chisinau television channel, Ghenadie Braghis, represents a repeat of one of the ugliest scripts of the communist repressive practices – a direct attack against an institution of the independent press, the chairman of the Moldova Noastra Alliance (MNA), Serafim Urecheanu claims. In a declaration forwarded for broadcast, the leader of the MNA states that “the demonstration made by the authorities, with numerous escorts made up of masked policemen, with searches and infringement of the right to a lawyer denotes the goal of intimidating the representatives of the independent press, which represent competition for the pro-communist press units in Moldova” According to Urecheanu, the communist regime in Moldova, in spite of its pro-European speculations, is confirming its repressive nature, based on a system of illegalities constructed by Voronin. The faking of files, the setting up of situations which offer the formal right to arrest people and attack institutions, are usual occurrences for the current leadership of Moldova, and are applied in business, politics, administration, relations with the civil society etc. On behalf of the MNA, Urecheanu requested the immediate intervention of the international structures for a strict monitoring of the Pro TV Chisinau case and asked them to take adequate measures against the totalitarian manifestations in Moldova. “I call on Vladimir Voronin again to stop his practices of setting the repressive organs against those which bother him in the political or business fields; I wish to remind the officers involved in the execution of illegal commands that they have the duty to respect the law and keep their honor intact”, the declaration of the MNA chairman says. Through his right as a Member of Parliament, Serafim Urecheanu requests the seizing of all illegalities in the Pro TV Chisinau case and notifies the specialized organs to start an investigation regarding forging evidence. “Regardless of the reasons that have led to such a behavior from the authorities, the hassle created by the journalists’ reports or the protection of the interests on the advertising market of the channels taken up by “Voronin’s men”, the use of Stalinist methods against the press and against any citizen come into the category of communist crimes and are to be condemned”, the chairman of the MNA says in a declaration forwarded to the press for broadcast. The sales manager of the Pro TV Chisinau channel, Ghenadie Braghis, was arrested on September 7 under the pretext of taking bribe. 3 days after his arrest, the Rascani district Court emitted an arrest warrant for 10 days on the basis that Braghis has a Romanian passport and might leave the country, although the police confiscated both his Moldovan and Romanian passports.