Romania public TV station reporter arrested in Chisinau

Romanian journalist Doru Dendiu, working for the public TV station TVR, was arrested in Chisinau on Friday. TVR producer Cristina Liberis declared around 14:00h that the newsroom lost contact with Doru Dendiu 40 minutes ago. Dendiu was alone, without a cameramen, after TVR repeatedly attempted to send a team to Chisinau, but they were denied entrance on Moldovan territory. TVR sued the Republic of Moldova, the case being judged at the European Court for Human Rights, after Moldova illegally withdrawn TVR’s right to broadcast on Moldovan territory.

According to Cristina Liberis, Doru Dendiu was heading for a meeting point where he was supposed to broadcast images towards the newsroom, speaking on the phone with a Foreign Department journalist in Bucharest, when he was arrested by the Police. The connection was cut immediately and no further contact was possible ever after

The arrest comes soon after TVR responded to the accusations made by Moldova officials, showing that the institution was never involve in provoking the protests in Chisinau.