Journalist Viorika Tetaru from the TV8 channel in the Republic of Moldova was detained by the so-called Ministry of Security of Tiraspol, the television reported. The journalist managed to send a message home and said that she was being taken to the meeting.

Verkhovna Rada from Tiraspol, TransnistriaPhoto: Serhiy Zarev / Panthermedia / Profimedia

TV8 reporter Viorika Tetara was detained in Tiraspol while filming a protest organized by separatist authorities.

Viorika Tetaru managed to transmit an audio message in which she said that she had been detained while asking the demonstrators why they had come to the protest.

  • “I asked for permission to tell my home where I am, so that they would not search for me and not worry about me. We were detained when they asked people why they came to the protest and what their demands were. We were detained and taken to the so-called Ministry of Security, two of them introduced themselves as collaborators.
  • They said they were going to question us, why we came and why we broke the law. Because we would be international press, press from abroad, and they need to ask us some questions, to find out the purpose of our presence here. Although we said: you announced some mass protests, and we came to check if it’s true, to talk to people, to ask what the demands are,” said Viorika Tetaru.

Hundreds of people with placards and the flag of the separatist region in their hands gathered on Theater Square, from where they started the march led by the leader of Transnistria, Vadym Krasnoselsky.

A large rally against customs duties was supposed to take place in Tiraspol on Wednesday, which the authorities in the region said was to be the largest in recent years, but it only lasted an hour, Europa Liberă Moldova reports.

The protest action began at 11:00 a.m., reports local TV channel TSV. Only 50 minutes later, the same source announced the end of the rally

Hundreds of representatives of trade unions and organizations close to the regime marched through the central street of Tiraspol, expressing their disagreement with the customs taxes that business entities in the region must pay to the budget of the Republic of Moldova.

The region’s so-called interior ministry claims 50,000 people took part in the rally, a figure that cannot be independently verified.