OSCE criticizes Moldovan bill restricting broadcasts by Russian TV channels
CHISINAU. July 14 (Interfax) - The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has criticized bills amending the Moldovan Audiovisual Code passed by the Moldovan parliament in the first reading to restrict broadcasts of Russian TV channels.
OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic forwarded a letter on this occasion to Moldovan parliamentary Chairman Andrian Candu, the OSCE said in a press release published in Chisinau on Thursday.
The document points out that the amendments to the Moldovan Audiovisual Code passed by the Moldovan parliament in the first reading "run counter to international standards on media freedom," and a ban on rebroadcasts of foreign TV programs endangers freedom of speech and information.
Mijatovic described the amendments as "excessively restrictive" and suggested that they may be "ineffective."
The media freedom representative said she hoped the legislation would be carefully reviewed by Moldovan parliamentarians before being adopted in the second reading, "ensuring that the regulation does not pose undue limits on free expression and free flow of information."
She pointed out that she had published recommendations on 'Propaganda and Freedom of the Media' in 2015.
In May 2015, in response to Candu's request, Mijatovic issued a negative review of the parliament's intention to pass similar amendments to the Audiovisual Code, which caused uproar in the expert community and prompted OSCE officials to speak out against bans on rebroadcasts, calling them "an inadequate tool against propaganda".
The Moldovan parliamentary majority on July 7 passed three bills imposing even stricter measures compared to those proposed by Candu in May 2015.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called Chisinau's intention to restrict Russian TV broadcasts "an unfriendly step." Left-wing opposition parties and the Association of Russian-Language Journalists in Moldova described the plans in question as "a restriction of freedom of speech and pluralism of opinions going against the Moldovan constitution."
Irina Vlah, the head of the autonomous region of Gagauzia in Moldova, said the region would preserve rebroadcasts of Russian TV channels even if the parliament passes legislation banning them.
Open debates on amendments to the Moldovan Audiovisual Code are under way in Chisinau on Thursday.
In May 2014, the Moldovan Broadcasting Coordination Council (BCC) banned broadcasts of Russia's Rossiya-24 television channel in Moldovan territory. The decision was contested by the opposition, but courts upheld the BCC decision. Other Moldovan TV channels rebroadcasting Russian news programs have been repeatedly subjected to sanctions for "broadcasts of propagandistic materials and a lack of pluralism of opinions."