The Regulation Limiting the Activity of the Press in Balti Mayor’s Office Criticized by Media NGOs Was Annulled by Mayor Alexandr Petkov: “Someone Has Exceeded Their Powers”

Alexandr Petkov, Balti Municipality Mayor, annulled the regulation regarding the activity of the press at the mayor’s office after several media NGOs criticized the document as “arbitrary” and “abusive.”

“We have corrected a regrettable mistake. The recently approved Regulation regarding the activity of the press at the mayor’s office has been annulled. I would like to apologize to all the journalists,” Alexandr Petkov wrote on his Facebook page in the afternoon of November 13.

Contacted by Media Azi, Balti Municipality Mayor declared that “someone exceeded their powers.” The local elected official refused to provide more detailed information: “I’d like to change the topic. The regulation has been annulled.”

WHAT THE REGULATION STIPULATED

The provision signed by Mayor Alexandr Petkov in August and published on Friday, November 8, on the Balti City Hall website, consisted of several rules of conduct for journalists. It included the prohibition of publishing any information regarding the local public administration (LPA) which is “provocative, (…) defames the LPA staff, and does not contain any comments or responses from the representatives of this institution.”

The document stipulated that journalists could have access “to the meeting room (at the mayor’s office – editor’s note) within the limit of the seats reserved in the visitors’ area, located on the right side of the presidium, in the box reserved for the media and civil society representatives, without photography, video, or audio recording equipment.” Media representatives were allowed to “connect their photo/video cameras only after the management’s and/or authorized person’s official announcement about the beginning of the event,” from specially equipped spaces, the mayor’s office regulation also stated.

The local press in Balti was informed of the document on Tuesday, November 12, as Viorica Bugulean, TV Nord director, confirms. According to her, the document is a response from the local elected officials who were dissatisfied with the fact that they were filmed by journalists using their mobile phones during a municipal council meeting held in April this year.

MEDIA NGO REACTION

Also on November 12, the provisions of the regulation were criticized by the media NGOs and described as “defiant attempts of Balti Municipality Mayor’s Office to hinder journalists’ professional activity by establishing arbitrary and abusive rules.”

“We condemn Balti Municipality Mayor’s Office’s attempt to assume arbitrary competences to restrict the rights of journalists covering events during the public authority’s meetings and to impose restrictions on the media outlets’ editorial policy or technical devices used for documenting journalistic materials,” the statement signed by nine media organizations, including the Independent Journalism Center, says.