(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is deeply disturbed by two recent violent attacks against journalists investigating corruption in Romania. On 23 September 1999, Marian Tudor, a reporter with the daily “Jurnalul de Constanta” in the Black Sea port of Constanta, was assaulted by two unidentified assailants aboard a train traveling from Constanta to Bucharest. Tudor was delivering […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is deeply disturbed by two recent violent attacks against
journalists investigating corruption in Romania.
On 23 September 1999, Marian Tudor, a reporter with the daily “Jurnalul de
Constanta”
in the Black Sea port of Constanta, was assaulted by two unidentified
assailants aboard a train traveling from Constanta to Bucharest. Tudor was
delivering edited manuscripts for that day’s edition of “Jurnalul de
Constanta” to a printer in the capital.
The attackers beat Tudor and stole the envelope containing the manuscripts
before throwing the journalist off the moving train. Tudor suffered minor
injuries, and is now back at work. The attackers did not take his cash and
other valuables, suggesting that the attack was not a simple robbery. Prior
to the assault, Tudor had published several articles uncovering alleged
corruption and illicit business deals involving the Ministry of Transport
and several shipping companies in Constanta.
In a separate incident the next day, a group of construction workers
assaulted Lorena Boros and Dorina Tataran, both reporters with the “Gazeta
de Nord-Vest” daily in Satu Mare, at the construction site of a new gas
station in the city. Boros and Tataran were investigating accusations that
the SC IMA SA Baia Mare construction firm had won the municipal contract in
a rigged auction. Some half dozen employees from Baia Mare roughed up the
reporters and took their equipment, including a camera.
Local police took hours to reach the scene. When they finally arrived, they
expressed incredulity at the reporters’ account of the attack. The
construction workers, meanwhile, told police they had acted in self-defense
after the journalists attacked them. The reporters have filed assault
charges against the workers: the case is scheduled to go to trial next
month.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the president:
practicing their profession
freedom
and the rights of journalists to practice their profession freely and safely
that
inhibits journalistic investigation and promotes self-censorship
police in Satu Mare, are thoroughly investigated and that the perpetrators
are brought to justice
Appeals To
His Excellency Emil Constantinescu
President of Romania
Cotroceni Palace, Bucharest
FAX: +40 1 411 0372
E-mail: guv@kappa.ro
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
