Moldovan journalist Mariana Rață receives death threat after interview

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published last week |  JP Global Monitoring

TV8 journalist Mariana Rață reported receiving a death threat from a supporter of Renato Usatîi after an on-air interview, prompting her to seek police action in Moldova.

Summary

CHIȘINĂU, MOLDOVA — TV8 journalist Mariana Rață has reported receiving a death threat from a supporter of “Our Party” following a live broadcast of the program “Cutia Neagră,” which featured the party’s leader, Renato Usatîi. The journalist said she plans to file a complaint with the police. The report first appeared on the Moldovan news website tv8.md.

Rață shared screenshots of the threatening messages on her Facebook page, saying she usually ignores such comments but decided to make this one public because it crossed into death threats.

“Usually, I don’t react to such messages, even though I get them from time to time after my shows or investigations. But this time, I decided to share with you the ‘goodies’ I receive every now and then — because it has come to death threats!” she wrote.

The journalist said the message came from a supporter of Renato Usatîi, who was angered by her questions during the show. “The man believes that for such questions, I should be stabbed in the street,” Rață noted.

While Rață does not believe Usatîi himself is linked to the threat, she said the author of the messages should be held accountable. “I don’t think Usatîi has a direct connection to these threats, but I believe the author should be held legally responsible for the insults and threats he sent me. Journalists are often left to face such attacks alone,” she said.

This is not the first instance of threats against TV8 staff in Moldova. In October 2022, another journalist from the channel, Viorica Tătaru, received death threats after covering protests in central Chișinău.

Photo caption: Mariana Rață received a death threat on October 30 following an interview with Renato Usatîi, the president of the populist Moldovan party Partidul Nostru (Our Party), seen here. (Screenshot: YouTube/Cutia Neagră cu Mariana Rață by CPJ)

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