Media Monitoring Agency Member To Sue Bucharest Police Commissioner Over Slander

“I wish to call your attention to an attempt aimed at discrediting people who tried to make public the abuses committed by law enforcement officers Wednesday and the persons who wanted to draw attention on the events occurred to me personally. As I understand, Police Commissioner Christian Ciocan told several journalists that I am being suspected of assaulting the manager of SC Flaros SA, the man who claimed several members of a group of anti-NATO protesters who rented a hall in the space he owns in Timpuri Noi area assaulted him. I strongly deny this allegation,” Martin said in a press conference.

 

Martin also accused two media institutions of having published the information released by the Bucharest Police without first verifying it and without asking for his comments.

 

He denounced “the release by Police of lies, baits to the media” that some journalists “have bitten” by publishing or broadcasting the information without checking its authenticity first.

 

Martin added he spoke to commissioner Ciocan earlier Friday and that the latter thanked him for his activity in the past days and told him there is no official complaint against him.

 

Martin gave the journalists attending the conference details about his Wednesday schedule, saying he only arrived at the factory in Timpuri Noi after the incident between security forces and anti-NATO protesters.

He said police officers took him away for identity check on Wednesday, despite the fact he was carrying identification papers.

 

On Wednesday, Romanian security forces broke into a factory in Bucharest that has been rented by the anti-NATO protesters and took away 46 suspected activists for identity checks. Eight other people were picked up off the street and brought to police precincts together with the protesters.

 

The protesters, as well as several non-government organizations, denounced abuses, claiming the police action had no legal cause.