Moldovan politician Shor condemns the opposition and the shutdown of Russian-language TV channels

KISINEV, 17 December – RIA Novosti. In Moldova, opposition politician Ilan Shor accused the opposition and the central authorities, who decided to shut down leading Russian-language TV channels, of violating freedom of expression.

Moldovan authorities on Friday suspended the licenses of the opposition and Russian-language channels Primul, RTR Moldova, Accent TV, NTV Moldova, TV6, Orhei TV in Moldova, allegedly reporting maliciously about events in the country and Ukraine. this leads to the risk of misinformation.

“When the regime arbitrarily decides to shut the mouth of the press on the basis of massive fraud, it is a serious violation of freedom of expression … It means that there are no more intellectual and reasonable people among the supporters of the authorities. Shor wrote on the Telegram channel on Saturday.

The politician likened the ruling Action and Solidarity party in Moldova, which controls the government, parliament and all state institutions, to a monkey with a grenade.

Shor also urged diplomatic missions accredited in Moldova “to come forward to defend the democracy and freedom of expression that the PDS is destroying in the country”.

Earlier, the head of the Moldovan Ministry of Justice, Sergei Litvinenko, said at a briefing that the country’s government has developed a draft law called the “Magnitsky-Moldova Law”, which provides for the imposition of sanctions against individuals and legal entities. as against the media. According to the project, the Moldovan Television and Radio Council will be able to revoke the licenses of companies owned or associated with those affected by the sanctions. Also, parliament will be able to revoke the license if the TV channel promotes the image of those placed on the sanction list.

Also in Moldova, in April, the re-broadcasting of Mir TV, which broadcasts in the CIS and was co-founded by the republican government, was banned. Moldovan authorities did not add funds to the 2023 budget to finance the representation of the main Commonwealth TV channel in Chisinau.

In the spring, opposition protests began in the country against rising prices and the economic crisis. Separate actions were carried out by the Party of Socialists and the Shor party, led by the country’s former president Igor Dodon, after which a series of arrests of opposition representatives swept Chisinau. Dodon was detained in May and placed under house arrest. The politician was accused of illegal enrichment, corruption, illegal financing of the party and treason. Marina Tauber, deputy leader of the Shor party, and the regional leaders of the political power are also under house arrest.