Journalists campaign against censorship in Moldova, 2004

In 2001, the communist party came to power in Moldova. The communist party would go on to acquire a parliamentary majority. Early in 2004, this parliamentary majority made a request that suspended the licenses of two oppositional media entities: a radio station, Antena C, and a television station, Euro TV. Both media outlets had supported oppositional candidates in the previous election. The government's decision would be met with outrage and resistance from both stations.

Vasile State, director of Antena C, and Arcadie Gherasim, director of Euro TV, requested authorization for a protest from the Chisinau City Hall. The request was made on March 18 for a protest to be held April 4th. Eleven days after the request, five members of Euro TV began a hunger strike in protest of the overt censorship. The strikers released a statement calling for the reinstatement of the two stations.  This statement was signed by Dina Clapco-Pripa, Tatiana Turcanu, Giulia Ostapova, Aurel Iesanu, and Valeriu Clapco. The five also indicated to the media that others would be joining them shortly.

Meanwhile, employees of Antena C were organizing in the streets. They gathered in the streets carrying signs that read "Down with censorship!" and "We want to work!" On April 1, an employee of Antenna C announced that he would begin a hunger strike and nine other employers of Euro TV joined in a hunger strike. On April 2, two of the original five hunger strikers fainted and needed to receive immediate medical attention The two later ended their hunger strikes due to cautionary advice from the doctor that treated them. That same day, Gherasim announced that more journalists had pledged to join the hunger strikes. As the campaign gained momentum and media coverage, organizations began to speak out in support of their cause; the Independent Journalism Centre, Acces-Info Centre, Committee for the Press Freedom, Association of Independent Press and Association of Electronic Press APEL also issued statements voicing support for the campaign.

The long-awaited protest scheduled for April 4 attracted hundreds of people to participate in a rally in Chisinau. This day marked the fifth day of the hunger strike and twenty one protesters remained on strike while five others had to quit due to serious health concerns. Protesters at the rally held signs that read "Antena C and Euro TV are under house arrest!" and "We experience information hunger!" Representatives from the opposition parties, including the Christian Democratic Popular Party, the Social Liberal Party, and the Our Moldova Alliance, were present at the rally.

Two days after the rally, the government's decision to suspend the licenses of the two media outlets was confirmed by the Audio Visual Council, an agency dealing with media licenses. Eight of the nine members of the council voted in favor of the government's decision. Employees of both media outlets attended the meeting and chanted, "We demand the right to information." Before leaving, they also assured the council that there would be further demonstrations. The following day, street protests resumed; protesting journalists picketed outside the offices of the Audio Visual Council for an hour.

The next dramatic action taken occurred at the end of July when a group of journalists sat-in at the national radio headquarters for five days. The journalists were forced to end their sit-in when a bomb threat was called into the building, leading to a complete evacuation of the building. Hundreds gathered outside the building to continue the protest. Opposition leaders were present once again, waving anti-communist posters. The protests persevered and on August 6, they began to attract support from musicians who would come and voice their support through music.

The continued presence of the journalists prompted a violent response from the Moldovan police forces. Those who were gathered outside the national radio headquarters were attacked during the early hours of the morning on August 7. Other news surfaced reporting that the families of some protesters were also intimidated in their homes. Allegedly, the police set fire to the door of one protester's apartment.

Protests continued after the assault, but the communist government responded by firing hundreds of journalists that sympathized with the cause in November. The communist president was then reelected in 2005, which confirmed that nothing would change. The campaign failed to make any progress.