Journalist Viorica Tataru Detained by the Self-Proclaimed Authorities from Tiraspol
TV8 reporter Viorica Tataru was detained in Tiraspol. According to the TV channel, she was filming the protest organized by the self-proclaimed authorities. The Promo-LEX Association requested an immediate intervention in order to release the journalist.
TV8 specifies that Viorica Tataru was in the Teatrului Square in Tiraspol, where hundreds of people with placards and the flag of the separatist region headed by the Transnistrian leader Vadim Krasnoselski marched in order to show their dissatisfaction with the provisions of the new Customs Code which targets the economic entities from the region.
“We were detained while trying to ask people why they joined the protest and what they demanded. Two of them detained us and said they were taking us to the so-called Ministry of Security: they presented themselves as its staff. They claimed they intended to interrogate us to find out why we had arrived there and why we had breached the laws, because we were international press, that is, foreign press. We said large-scale protests had been announced, and we had arrived to monitor them, to see if it was true, and to talk to the people, and we didn’t see what could be regarded as a violation on our part,” the journalist said according to an audio broadcast by TV8.
The Promo-Lex Association considered the incident to be alarming and addressed the Government demanding to intervene immediately in order to clarify the circumstances of the detention and to ensure the immediate release of the journalist Viorica Tataru. “It is essential for the authorities to act decisively for protecting the media’s rights and freedom in the region. (…) The details of the incident are currently being verified, but the seriousness of the situation requires an immediate and coordinated reaction,” the organization’s representatives specify. They also emphasize the need for an emergency intervention by the Reintegration Policy Bureau, the EU Delegation to the Republic of Moldova, the diplomatic missions, and the Ombudsman’s Office.
