Saturday, February 13, 2010

Resign, now

The President of the Supreme Court of Justice, Ion Muruianu, made the following statement at today's annual general meeting of judges:


"The mass media is a rabid dog and presents a danger to all of society"


I am the first to agree that the media is capable of distorting issues and pulling them way out of context.  The pen is indeed mightier than the sword and should be used responsibly.


On the other hand the media plays a central & critical role in any democratic society.  It informs.  It entertains.  Most important of all, it investigates.  It is a powerful tool for uncovering wrongdoing in the other three 'estates' - the legislative, the executive and the judiciary.


For the country's leading judge to make a statement so damning of such an important democratic institution is extraordinary.  It either reveals how little he understands about the function of the media in a democracy (bad enough), or (even worse) it reveals how little he cares for the establishment of a true democracy in Moldova.


Either way, he's got to go.  We can't suffer fools in such an important position as this. 
Posted by Zimbru at 8:12 PM

1 comments:

  1. It is a shame that no one at the meeting asked him for the reasoning behind his statement. I fully agree with you as to the importance of a free press in a democracy, but I have seen countless examples of that free press behaving irresponsibly and "flexing its muscles" in an effort to bring down any perceived opponent or critic. There is no question about the often rude and uncivilized behavior of some journalists on the street in search of comments for an article; sometimes I think that piranha are better behaved. Perhaps he recently fell victim to such tactics? In any event, I agree with your conclusion; we cannot afford to have fools in such an important position as this. Whether or not Muruianu falls into this category still remains to be proven.
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