Since the media in Romania have been shared between four-five media cartels, owned by so-called “moguls”, members of the same group of interest, the freedom of the press and expression is at risk. Journalists practice routine self-censorship in the privately-owned media and are under the threat of improper sacks. Many are harassed by threats from important businessmen and government people while the surveillance of journalists by the secret services – phone-tapping, being followed, etc – becomes for mass-media as common as coffee in the morning.

On February 7, anonymous sources provided two national dailies from Bucharest, ZIUA and Romania Libera, some military documents about the Romanian and US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. On February 17, journalist Marian Garleanu, the correspondent in Vrancea county for the “Romania Libera” daily, was detained and arrested for two days, under the charge of possessing secret information related to the Romanian troops deployed in Afganistan and Iraq. His house was searched and he was brought to Bucharest like in a criminal-TV show: handcuffed and escorted by armed and hooded officers. Journalist Sebastian Oancea, a temporary correspondent in Vrancea county for the “ZIUA” daily, had his house searched and his computer confiscated under the same charges. The two journalists had received a CD containing secret information related to the Romanian troops deployed in Afganistan and Iraq and refused to disclose their sources to the authorities. They are still under investigation together with other four journalists from “ZIUA” and “Romania Libera”, who have seen the information – Ovidiu Ohanesian, Bogdan Comaroni, Doru Dragomir and Victor Roncea, a member of Civic Media Association– even if their newspaper decided not to publish the information they had received and passed the CD to the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI). The hard drives of the computers of these journalists were copied by the secret services in order to be studied by the Department for the Investigation of Terrorism and Organized Crime Criminal Offences – Directia de Investigare a Infractiunilor de Crima Organizata si Terorism (DIICOT).

South East Europe Media Organization as well as Reporters without Borders have reacted asking the Government to protect journalists’ rights.

In March, journalists from Bucharest and some media NGO’s have held a spontaneous solidarity demonstration in front of the Prosecutor’s Office while two of the journalists were questioned inside on this case. Some of the protestors were summoned to Court for “non-authorized demonstration” . However, the Court gave justice to the journalists.

In June 2006, George Damian and Victor Roncea from Civic Media Association and ZIUA daily created a pamphlet web site parodying the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mihai Razvan Ungureanu, reacted undemocratically and his people used authorities pressures in order to shut down the site. On top of this, the Minister asked and received personal data on the creators of the site from the provider – CHL company – thus violating the law protecting personal data.

In July, Civic Media Association launched the “Clean Voices” campaign in the media and in the civil society, along with two NGO’s from Bulgaria: Journalists against Corruption and Bulgarian Media Coalition. The aim of the campaign was the disclosure of the cooperation of opinion leaders, journalists and NGO’s directors, with the secret communist police – Ceausescu’s Securitate. During the campaign it was found out that the secret services are using journalists even in the present, a practice condemned by the International Federation of Journalists and Reporters without Borders. Both international organizations supported the “Clean voices” initiative of the Civic Media Association along with MediaSind Union of Romania. Other important NGO’s didn’t embrace the campaign as some of their representatives had been revealed as informers. Until now six journalist from Bulgaria and almost ten from Romania were exposed as former informers of the communist political police.

In October 2006 Ioan Romeo Rosianu, journalist in the Maramures county, had his life threatened by a local politician – Adrian Filip, president of the Maramures section of the Social Democratic Party – due to a series of articles concerning the business ran by Adrian Filip. The matter is now under police investigation. The local press is still under the influence of rich political businessmen who are using media outlets as a tool in order to impose their interest and power in the area.

Since the media in Romania have been shared between four-five media cartels, owned by so called “moguls”, members of the same group of interest, the freedom of the press and expression is at risk. Journalists practice routine self-censorship in the privately-owned media and are under the threat of improper sacks. Many are harassed by threats from important businessmen and government people while the surveillance of journalists by the secret services – phone-tapping, being followed, etc – becomes for the mass-media as common as coffee in the morning.

At the end of the year the Minister of Justice Monica Macovei deliberately attacked press freedom in Romania. In November she proposed a disastrous project regarding the modification of the Criminal Code. Minister Macovei’s proposal of changing the Criminal Code would have as a consequence the blocking of the journalists’ activity, who would be threatened once again with imprisonment. Thus, the project of the new Criminal Code creates two new offences which infringe on press freedom: “the violation of the private life” and “the compromise of the Justice interests”. Under these legislation a journalist could not even photograph anything of public interests, such as flagrant actions of corrupt officials and mafia people.

Civic Media Association and other media organizations have protested against the renewed attempt of the Romanian Justice minister Monica Macovei to infringe upon human rights and press freedom.

The Emergency Ordinance 131/2006 adopted at the end of the last year regarding the free access to the personal information system of the personnel belonging to the Department for Investigating Terrorism and Organized Crime Criminal Offences (DIICOT) – an organism that doubles the activity of the National Department Against Corruption (DNA) – represents, in the opinion of Civic Media, a new threat to private life and to press freedom.

Civic Media is hereby reminding that if the 5006/2004 Law introduced the stipulations of this Emergency Ordinance, all the Romanian journalists’ computers and other information systems could be “cloned” without their knowledge and only on the basis of allegations.

At the end of the year, as Romania joined the European Union, the Constitutional Court reintroduced libel and defamation in the Criminal Code.