Moldova describes detaining group of journalists as Tiraspol's new unfriendly gesture

Chisinau, 1 September /MOLDPRES/ - The Moldovan authorities firmly condemn provocative actions by Transnistrian bodies, which shows Tiraspol ignoring the present agreements in the area of ensuring freedom of movement of the residents between the two banks of Dniester, as well as the continuous violation of human rights and freedom of expression in the region, the Bureau for Reintegration has reported.  

A press release by the Bureau says that "today, on 1 September, in Corjova, employees of the Transnistrian law-enforcement bodies detained a group of journalists of a Moldovan TV channel, who were set to cover events dealing with the beginning of the school year at the gymnasium from this settlement. Despite the fact that the journalists had accreditation of the Joint Control Commission (JCC), they were held for carrying out of alleged procedural actions. Only after an insistent intervention by the Moldovan delegation to JCC, with the formulation of the respective requirements, the group of journalists was released. Nevertheless, the group's work was frustrated, a running commentary on the festive events was not aired, and the journalists were to return to Chisinau."

According to the communique, "the lack of a proper reaction by the Joint Military Command of the Peacekeeping Forces arouses perplexity, which represents once more proof of the existence of serious drawbacks in the activity of the peacekeeping operation, the format and powers of which need to be conceptually revised."   

"Chisinau describes this incident as a new unfriendly gesture by Tiraspol, aimed at deliberately creating a conflict atmosphere in the Transnistrian problem settlement process, as well as at worsening the situation in the Security Zone," the press release spread by the Bureau for Reintegration also says. 

(Editor L. Alcaza)