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Harassed
May 4
Independent radio stations, HARASSED
BBC Romanian service, HARASSED
Adrian Nastase, president of the Chamber of Deputies, announced that the BBC Romanian service was violating Romania's electoral law by "obviously favoring the opposition in its campaign coverage." Nastase called for the National Audiovisual Council to "reconsider" immediately the frequency allocation of those Romanian FM stations that broadcast the BBC program. He added that "the BBC, being a British organization, should broadcast news about England and cover what happens in London, not in Romania." While no radio stations canceled the BBC program, experts feared this would happen. Radio broadcast news is an important source of information in Romania since the vast majority of the country's television news programs are state-run. In a letter to Nastase and Romania's President Ion Iliescu, CPJ urged the government to ensure that Romanian radio stations are able to continue broadcasting independent news.
September 30
Mihai Antoci, Ziua, HARASSED
Razvan Savaliuc, Ziua, HARASSED
Marius Ghilezan, Romania Libera, HARASSED
Dan Preisz, Romania Libera, HARASSED
Flroin Esanu, Romania Libera, HARASSED
Oana Bratu, Radio Contact, HARASSED
Ovidiu Patrascanu, Evenimentul Zilei, HARASSED
Andreea Munteanu, Azi, HARASSED
Marius Huc, ABC, HARASSED
Mircea Marian, Medifax, HARASSED
Ten reporters from various news outlets were ordered by a member of the local branch of the Party of Social Democracy (PDSR), Romania's ruling party, to give up notes, videotapes, and any other material related to their reporting about an allegedly fraudulent polling station. Earlier that day, the 10 journalists had entered the offices of the polling station, where PDSR members reportedly were using slanted questions to conduct voter polls in an effort to influence the voters in favor of President Ion Iliescu, who was running for re-election Nov. 3. On Oct. 3-4, after the story became public, several of the journalists were summoned by police for questioning, often late at night. CPJ appealed to Iliescu to put a stop to any further harassment of the journalists.
For more information contact europeweb@cpj.org