The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia accuses Moldova of oppressing Russians due to suspension of TV channel licenses for propaganda

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia accused the official Chisinau of oppressing the Russian national minority after the decision to revoke the broadcasting licenses of six TV channels that spread propaganda about the war in Ukraine. This is claimed in the statement of the Russian Ministry, published on Saturday, writes European Pravda. "We consider this ban as an unprecedented act of political censorship, as a mockery of the principle of media pluralism and a brutal disregard for the right to freedom of access to information, which the political leadership of the Republic regularly declares its commitment to.

In light of the unprecedented consequences of its implementation for the Russian-speaking part of the country's population, we also qualify it as a cynical oppression of the rights of national minorities," the Russian agency said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation requires specialised international organisations to "give an adequate assessment of what happened and take all appropriate measures to correct this unacceptable situation." In the evening of 16 December, the commission on emergency situations, which has been operating in Moldova since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, suspended the licenses of six TV channels. Among them: TV6, Orhei TV, Primul in Moldova, Accent TV, NTV Moldova and RTR Moldova.

According to the order of the commission, the decision to suspend the licenses was made in order to protect the national information space and prevent the risk of disinformation and attempts to manipulate public opinion. It is stated that the channels spread false information during the coverage of the war in Ukraine.

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President Maja Sandu said that protecting the national information space is an important step to prevent destabilisation attempts by individuals under international sanctions.

The pro-Russian Party of Socialists of Moldova called the decision of the commission illegal and is going to challenge it in court.

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