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Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca has called "a serious attack on democratic values" threats against Targu-Mures Public Radio journalist Paraszka Boroka, calling for the authorities "to exercise their legal powers to protect mass-media people."
"I am publicly condemning the threats against the Targu-Mures Public Radio journalist, which I find unacceptable and a serious attack on democratic values. Journalists' freedom of speech is a basic condition of the rule of law and a fundamental value in any democracy. I am asking the relevant state authorities to exercise their legal powers to protect journalists and to hold accountable those responsible for propagating speech that incites hatred and negative discrimination," Ciuca wrote on Friday in a Facebook post, told Agerpres.
The Romanian Public Radio Broadcasting Corporation took a position on Friday in a press release in the case of controversial statements by a Hungarian politician in Sfantu Gheorghe against public radio employee Paraszka Boroka.
"In his message, he says: 'you can see Paraszka Boroka, you can hear her on Radio Targu-Mures. Well, if the Hungarians are not able to hang such people, to eliminate them from among themselves, we should not be surprised that we are where we are'. The politician added: 'we are witnessing the gypsyisation of Szeklerland and the Hungarian people.' The statements were made during a meeting in Sfantu Gheorghe, where the Hungarian politician was present. An audio recording broadcast by a journalist in attendance at the meeting in Sfantu Gheorghe proves the fact that, in addition to the xenophobic speech towards the Roma and the Jewish community, the name of the Hungarian journalist, employed by the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, is also mentioned."
The company calls the comments "a serious attack against the basic norms of democracy, the rule of law," adding that "statements that appeal to racial purity are unacceptable in a democratic and tolerant Romania."
"The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation is strongly condemning in these difficult times any extremist and manipulative behaviour that propagates and incites violence, while voicing its disagreement with such approach. Fighting for equidistance, impartiality and correct information, in accordance with the mission to publish, in the spirit of defending journalistic ethics and freedom, as well as a credible and relevant source of news, the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation wants to firmly condemn and discourage biased and extremist attitudes and continues to be part of the camp for the defence of truth and values enshrined in the Romanian Constitution."
The Criminal Investigations Service with the Mures County Police Inspectorate announced on Friday having started an investigation into statements allegedly made by an official of the Hungarian Our Homeland Movement regarding the "hanging" of a Radio Targu Mures journalist.
The criminal investigation police were alerted after the local Romanian-language press carried an article from the Telex.hu publication, in which a politician from the extremist group Our Homeland Movement allegedly said, regarding journalist Paraszka Boroka, that if Hungarians cannot hang such people, cannot eliminate them from among themselves, then it is no wonder that they are where they are.
