Moldova

In the last month, the number of cases of assaults against journalists in the Republic of Moldova has been staggering and follows a troubling trend of harassment in recent years

Protesters, politicians and their bodyguards publicly manhandled and threatened reporters, impeding them from doing their work.

Moldova follows Russia’s (bad) example by introducing draft legislation that would restrict the activities of 90% of its NGOs.

In the lead-up to its first direct presidential elections in 16 years independent media outlets have encountered serious barriers to reporting. These include campaign finance laws that obstruct journalists’ access to key information; and the proliferation of false information, hate speech, and internet trolls, as well as their influence on the free flow of information to citizens.

The provisions of the bill would violate the rights to freedom of expression and assembly, as well as create an environment of state-promoted discrimination against LGBT people, Human Rights Watch said.

With public trust at an all-time low, we need to examine how murky media ownership threatens pluralism and freedom of speech in Moldova.

For the past five days, nearly 60,000 people have gathered in Chişinău’s National Square (Piaţa Marii Adunări Naţionale, or PMAN) to protest against pervasive corruption, demand the return of $1 billion in assets that were recently stolen from Moldova’s banking system, and call for the resignation of several senior officials, including President Nicolae Timofti.

Sobir Valiev, deputy head of the Congress of Constructive Forces of Tajikistan, a peaceful opposition group, was detained on August 11, 2015, at the request of the Tajik government by Moldovan migration police in the Chisinau airport before boarding a flight to Istanbul.

Sergei Ilchenko, a freelance contributor to local and regional media, has been held for more than a week and equipment seized from his and his son’s homes, according to news reports.

In 2013 the situation of the media in Moldova did not change radically. According to international media freedom rankings, freedom of the press in the Republic of Moldova maintained the same level as in previous years. This lack of significant progress is almost entirely explained by the status quo in domestic politics and in relevant legislation.

The Independent Journalism Center’s 2012 annual report examines issues such as the regulation of defamation, and journalists’ access to events of public interest.

An Independent Journalism Center study concluded that the impact of the Law on Freedom of Expression has been limited in the first two years of its implementation.

Journalists Reportedly Intimidated in Kosovo SEEMO Expresses Concern After Two Reporters Threatened VIENNA, May 22, 2012 – The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), today condemned physical threats made against two Kosovo journalists on May 16 in the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica, in northern Kosovo. […]

Vladmir Vivaci, who works for Omega news agency, suffered multiple head and internal injuries and is recovering in hospital after the savage beating.