The ISS about the Russia-24 correspondent who conducted an interview with Igor Dodon under house arrest: “She violated the requirements for the accreditation of foreign journalists.”

The correspondent of the Russia-24 television who conducted an interview with ex-President Igor Dodon in mid-July, under house arrest, violated the provisions of a government decision on the accreditation of foreign media representatives in the Republic of Moldova. The Bureau for Migration and Asylum is to release a statement regarding this issue, according to an official response of the Information and Security Service (ISS) for Media Azi. Earlier, an MP from the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) called for clarifying this case. 

UPDATE: Igor Dodon commented for Sputnik Moldova on the response of the ISS to Media Azi: “They [ISS] refer to a government decision from 1995. That decision says that accreditation for foreign journalists is required for two years with state institutions. Otherwise, we are a free country and any journalist can come and interview whoever they want.”

“Olga Armyakova did not request accreditation for conducting journalistic activity on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, and thus she violated the provisions of Government Decision no. 359/1995 on the accreditation of foreign journalists in the Republic of Moldova,” reads the ISS response, requested by Media Azi following the interview broadcast by the Russian TV station Russia-24 on July 15. 

The ISS representatives said that the national authority for foreigners (Bureau for Migration and Asylum, a subdivision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs) is to release a statement on the legality of the journalist’s being and carrying out a certain activity on the territory of the Republic of Moldova.

Earlier, MP Radu Marian appealed to the Information and Security Service, in the Secrets of Power program on Jurnal TV, to provide explanations on the circumstances of Igor Dodon giving the interview. “As far as I understand, this lady came to visit relatives earlier. She has relatives in Moldova. I understand that she came before the start of this war and it was not even within the legal powers of our authorities to deny her. The fact that she ended up having an interview with Dodon, indeed, is a problem. And, by the way, I am calling the ISS to come up with a clarification (…), to come up with explanations about this propagandist,” Radu Munteanu said in the program.

Igor Dodon offered an interview to the Russian television Russia-24, while under house arrest, on July 15. It was also shared on the politician’s Facebook page. At that time, representatives of the anticorruption prosecutor’s office, which investigates the case of the ex-head of state, claimed that they were not notified about the visits of journalists to Dodon’s home. In his turn, Igor Dodon said that he did not violate the court’s decision when he received journalists at home.