ORGANIZATIA DE MEDIA din Sud Estul Europei - SEEMO - intervine in apararea libertatii presei din Republica Moldova

VIENNA, 20 July 2009 - The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is alarmed by recent media developments in Moldova. Media representatives are frequently being prevented by the Moldovan authorities from reporting freely, especially following parliamentary elections in April this year.

According to information received by SEEMO, on 12 July 2009 two journalists, Ivan Melnic and Vladimir Thorik from the Moldovan newspaper Moldavskie Vedomosti were forcefully prevented from entering a public meeting attended by Moldovan Prime Minister Zinaida Greceanii in the Palace of Culture in Donduseni, Moldova. The bodyguards of the Prime Minister requested that the police expel the journalists from the premises.

On 15 July 2009, in the small Moldovan town of Sangerei, Prime Minister Greceanii's bodyguards prohibited three journalists from attending a meeting between Greceanii and businessmen from the region. The journalists were from the local newspapers Ecoul nostru and Plai Sangerean. Prime Minister Greceanii's bodyguards also prohibited journalist Rodica Nimerenco, from TV station TVPRIM, from entering an election meeting on 9 July 2009.

On 13 July 2009 Moldovan authorities prevented Romanian journalist Gabriel Apetri, from the Romanian Agerpres news agency, from entering Moldova. Apetri held a valid visa but didn't have a particular medical document not usually requested by the authorities. The incident happened at the Romanian - Moldovan border in the small border town of Vama Sculeni.

On 26 June 2009, MOLD DATA State Enterprise warned the New Media Group Company, which administers the www.unimedia.md news portal, following notification by the Moldovan Prosecutor's Office that website commentaries made by www.unimedia.md visitors were a "call to violence and mass disorder, a call to removal and change of the constitutional system."

On 3 May 2009, on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, the Independent Journalism Centre (IJC) in Chisinau experienced difficulties while trying to publicize, as part of a public information campaign, a number of billboards throughout the city quoting various provisions of the Moldovan Constitution, the Press Law and the European Convention on Human Rights.

"What happened in the past weeks is alarming and SEEMO hopes that the officials in Moldova will respect the important position of independent and critical media in the future," said SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic, "SEEMO calls upon the Moldovan authorities to investigate these incidents and to respect the right of the free movement of persons and freedom of expression and reporting. Asking for medical documents from journalists on the border was obsolete and a clear matter of press freedom restriction as EU citizens need only their passport to enter Moldova", Vujovic continued. "Therefore SEEMO urges once more the authorities of the Republic of Moldova to do everything in their power to ensure that the media are allowed to report freely and that the government undertakes to do everything necessary to finally guarantee freedom of expression in Moldova."

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The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is a regional media organisation, and a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists from newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, new media and news agencies from South East and Central Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI). SEEMO is active, according to the geographical position in Europe, in: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo, Albania, Republic of Macedonia / FYROM, Greece, Cyprus, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey.

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SEEMO publications are: SEEMO South East and Central Europe Media Handbook (annual publication since 2003, latest edition published in 2008), deScripto Magazine (quarterly publication), Investigative Reporting Handbook and Media and Minorities in SEE.

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Civic Media este membra fondatoare a SEEMO
Vezi si http://www.seemo.ro/

Moldova reclamata la OSCE pentru cenzura

In urma sesizarii US MediaSind, AZEC si Civic Media, Aidan White, secretarul general al Federatiei Internationale a Jurnalistilor (FIJ), si Oliver Vujovic, de la Organizatia de Media a Sud Estului Europei (SEEMO - la care este fondatoare si Civic Media), intervin in apararea ziaristilor si editorilor basarabeni

Efectele inaspririi cenzurii de catre regimul de la Chisinau au inceput sa se resimta. Primele efecte sunt deja evidente: un lot de carte romaneasca, donat de municipalitatea orasului Calarasi din Romania Bibliotecii publice din orasul de peste Prut cu acelasi nume, a fost retras de autoritatile basarabene pentru ca in titlu aparea si cuvantul "roman".
Reamintim ca, in vara, Guvernul de la Chisinau a introdus o Lege privind activitatea editoriala, act normativ ce vine in contradictie cu normele Consiliului Europei si ale ONU. Astfel, o prevedere a acestui act normativ este aceea prin care "se interzice editarea literaturii care contine contestarea si defaimarea statului si a poporului". Chisinaul pregateste si legea privind "prevenirea
si combaterea infractiunilor savarsite prin intermediul sistemelor informationale", care prezinta numeroase elemente cu potential negativ. US MediaSind
si Asociatia Ziaristilor si Editorilor Crestini (AZEC) au protestat deja fata de aceste incalcari flagrante ale unor drepturi si libertati fundamentale, sesizand organismele europene. Prezentam mai jos interviul acordat in exclusivitate ziarului ZIUA, pe aceasta tema, de Aidan White, secretar general al Federatiei Internationale a Jurnalistilor.

Cum apreciati recentele masuri legislative initiate de regimul din Republica Moldova pentru inasprirea cenzurii?

Suntem foarte ingrijorati in ce priveste modificarile propuse, asta pentru ca anunta posibilitatea de reintoarcere la cel putin o formula de interventie a statului daca nu chiar la cenzura. Se pune problema inregistrarii si controlului tuturor celor care lucreaza in domeniul mass-media sau al editurilor. Toate astea, nor­mal, starnesc profunde ingri­jorari, iar intentia noastra este sa cerem colegilor nostri, Asociatia jurnalistilor din Republica Moldova, sa investigheze aceasta situatie si sa ia legatura cu autoritatile pentru a ne lamuri asupra implicatiilor pe care le pot avea aceste schimbari. Ceea ce ne ingrijoreaza cel mai mult este ca schimbarile propuse in legislatie vor scoate Republica Moldova din drumul spre UE, din lipsa de acord intre legislatia si normele europene si cele nationale, tocmai prin aceasta incercare de a impune un control asupra presei si informatiei. In mod special, ne ingrijoreaza ca legea respectiva, cu amen­damentele ei, va fi una impotriva Conventiei europene asupra drepturilor omului. Din punctul nostru de vedere, aceasta situatie trebuie sa fie urmarita cu toata atentia la nivelul OSCE. Im­partasim punctul de vedere si ingrijorarile semnalate de sem­natarii co­municatului si de colegii nostri de la MediaSind, organizatia noastra afiliata din Romania, colegii nostri romani avand stranse relatii cu jurnalistii din Republica Moldova, incercand sa stabileasca aliante tocmai pentru a face fata acestui tip de probleme. Suntem foarte ingri­jorati de situatia creata si speranta noastra este ca Guvernul Republicii Moldova si Parlamentul vor analiza aceste lucruri si-si vor schimba tipul de abordare. Credem ca este absolut esential ca Republica Moldova sa revada aceste propuneri si sa interzica orice tip de alte prevederi care sa restranga libertatea de actiune din mass-media.

Cum comentati propunerea privind masurile indreptate impotriva celor care, prin activitatea lor jurnalistica, "ar putea compromite regimul constitutional"?

Asta ne da impresia ca legiui­torii din Republica Moldova se intorc in timp, in perioada intunecata a controlului absolut exercitat de stat si a cenzurii. Mi se pare ca atunci cand societatea ar trebui sa se deschida, sa recunoasca beneficiile trans­parentei si pluralismului, ale democratiei bazate pe schimbul reciproc intre toate opiniile exis­tente la nivelul opiniei publice, introducerea unor legi sau regle­mentari care interzic sau constrang libertatea de exprimare merge complet intr-o directie gresita.
Cristian UNTEANU, Bruxelles

ZIUA

SEEMO PRESS RELEASE MOLDOVA

SEEMO Expresses Concern at Several Recent Legal Developments in Moldova

Vienna, 22 September 2008
The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists from South East Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), is concerned about several recent legal developments in Moldova that contain threats to press freedom, freedom of expression, and the right of access to information.
According to information before SEEMO, Moldova’s Parliament has passed an amendment to the Law on Editorial Activity that came into effect on 26 June 2008. The Law on Editorial Activity now includes a ban on printing material that challenges or defames the state and the people, incites war, aggression, national, racial or religious hatred, discrimination, territorial separatism, public violence or in any other way that threatens the constitutional regime. SEEMO supports the Publishers’ Union of Moldova in their claim that this amendment could result in self-censorship.
SEEMO is also alarmed by the recently adopted restrictive regulations concerning the assessment, selection and publication of textbooks for pre-university education, which favour the state publishing houses subordinated to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism over other publishing houses. In recent years, several Moldovan publishing houses invested money and human resources in projects concerning textbooks and created a complex editorial system. The government, however, has discounted these efforts by introducing the new regulations, which could negatively affect the education system in Moldova.
Furthermore, SEEMO would like to express its concern at a worrisome draft law, the Law on Preventing and Fighting Crimes Committed by Means of the Information System, which is soon to be passed by Parliament. According to the draft law, internet service providers will be required to store the personal data of users and provide this information to the authorities upon request.
Moreover, the draft Law on State Secrets, which is soon to be adopted by Parliament, would result in a limitation of public access to official information. The draft would provide far-reaching powers to public authorities and the Security and Information Service by enabling them to declare as classified any information they consider to be a state secret.
SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic expressed concern about these recent legal developments in Moldova. He emphasized that "a free and independent media is a crucial component of a modern democratic society" and that "it is important to ensure a pluralist media environment, since it contributes to an educated and informed public."
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SEEMO is a regional network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South East Europe.
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