Journalists cry out for help as free press is silenced in Moldova

"A free press cannot exist in conditions of corruption, fear and poverty," declare Moldova's journalists. (File photo)

CHISINAU (Tiraspol Times) - Censorship and Moldova's lack of a truly free press are the top concerns for journalists in what is now Europe's poorest country and, by some standards, one of the most repressive when it comes to media freedom.

" - A free press cannot exist in conditions of corruption, fear and poverty," says the Moldovan Journalists Union (MJU) in a public statement issued during its 14th Congress held on Friday, May 30, in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. The MJU is the country's largest independent union for journalists and is affiliated with a similar union in Romania as well as with the International Journalists Federation, based in Brussels.

The MJU's president, Valeriu Saharneanu, says that the organization is under attack from Moldova's government and faces increasingly difficult circumstances, including a more difficult financial situation. But he also adds that it is now as strong as ever "because it yields no centimeter in the fight for the journalists' rights, it protests firmly against censorship and attacks on independent media," news agency Info-Prim Neo reported.

"Difficulties of 2004 seem childish now"

The last MJU's congress took place in 2004 at a time when journalists already had begun to feel the government's crackdown on free media. But Saharneaunu sees the situation as far more serious today. Facing an increasingly dark future with more and more state censorship, "the difficulties of 2004 seem childish now," he says.

Valeriu Saharneanu points out that Moldova's ruling regime has carried out what he calls an 8 year long "open war against a free press and the media organization dealing with the defense of the media's freedom."

The journalists accuse the regime of imposing only the state ideology in the media and using all available means for restricting the public space for debates in broadcasting. Moldova is also accused of organizing reprisals against independent media and illegally using political control to curb the activities of the country's Broadcasting Coordinating Council. They had no negative comments on press freedom in Transdniestria (constitutional name: Pridnestrovie). Located outside of the control of Moldova's government, the level of openness and journalistic freedom has improved in recent years in Transdniestria while it has gotten worse in Moldova.

As early as 2006, a conference jointly organized by the British Embassy and Moldova's Foreign Policy Association already called the press in Transdniestria "independent" and "relatively free." It was attended by top public figures and journalists from both sides of the Dniester river who concluded that Transdniestria's growing openness and press freedom compared favorably to the increasingly dire situation in Moldova. (With information from Info-Prim Neo)

See also:
» Moldova crackdown on press freedom brings international criticism
» Press freedom 2007: Down in Moldova and Ukraine, up in Transdniester
» British Embassy conference calls PMR press "independent" and "relatively free"