(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Romanian Prime Minister Mugur Isarescu, RSF denounced the statements made by the vice-president of the far-right Romania Mare party, and the threats against Stefan Susai, an Agence France Presse (AFP) correspondent in Iasi, Romania. “The threats against the AFP correspondent are intolerable, and we ask that you condemn them,” […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Romanian Prime Minister Mugur Isarescu, RSF denounced the statements made by the vice-president of the far-right Romania Mare party, and the threats against Stefan Susai, an Agence France Presse (AFP) correspondent in Iasi, Romania. “The threats against the AFP correspondent are intolerable, and we ask that you condemn them,” urged Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general. “Moreover, we take Anghel Stanciu’s statements very seriously, and feel that they reveal the true nature of this party, which has become the second most important political force in Romania, and the danger it represents for freedoms,” added Ménard.
According to information collected by RSF, in a 29 November 2000 statement which he made in Iasi (in the country’s north), Stanciu, vice-president of the far-right Romania Mare party, said: “We must intern journalists in work camps.” Susai, the local AFP correspondent in Iasi who reported these comments, was told to retract the statements by local Romania Mare leaders, and, having refused, received a number of anonymous telephone threats. The caller said: “From now on, be careful in the street. Are you not concerned about what might happen to your wife and daughter?”
Stanciu denied making the comments on the internment of journalists, even though several recordings of his comments are available. He first told the independent Mediafax agency that he was only joking. RSF recalls that it is quite common in Romanian far-right circles to insult the Romanian and foreign press, especially AFP, and to make particularly violent threats against journalists. On 10 December, Vadim Tudor, leader of the Romania Mare party, will face former President Ion Iliescu in the second round of presidential elections.
