Moldovan journalist Mariana Rață receives death threat

New York, November 3, 2025—Moldovan authorities must swiftly investigate a recent death threat sent to Mariana Rață, an investigative journalist and TV host with the independent broadcaster TV8, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.

On October 30, Rață received voice notes on Facebook Messenger from Boris Cerlat, a Facebook user claiming to bea supporter of Renato Usatîi, the president of the populist Moldovan party Partidul Nostru (Our Party), whom Rață had interviewed earlier that day. Rață said Cerlat was “upset” about the questions she asked Usatîi. “The man believes that for such questions I should be stabbed on the street,” she wrote on Facebook.

“People will stab you in the throat,” one of Cerlat’s voice notes said, according to the Moldovan nonprofit media organization the Center for Independent Journalism. 

“Moldovan authorities must conduct a swift investigation into the death threat sent to Moldovan journalist Mariana Rață, and hold the perpetrator to account,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Members of the press should not be harassed or threatened over their work.”

“I don’t think Usatîi has any direct connection to these messages,” Rață wrote. “But I do believe that the author should be held accountable before the law for the insults and threats he has sent me. Journalists are often left alone to face attacks.”

Her outlet reported she intends to contact the police. CPJ contacted Rață via messaging app but did not receive a reply.  

“The scale of the phenomenon of harassment of independent media in the online environment can no longer be neglected,” a statement signed by eight Moldovan media organizations said on Friday. “Such actions put enormous pressure on journalists and create a climate of hostility, seriously affecting the public’s right to accurate and objective information.” 

In October, Elena Chelak, a radio host with public radio station Radio Moldova Comrat, faced a wave of online attacks after a October 14 broadcast with parliament member Nicolai Dudoglo. 

Over the last year, hostility toward journalists in Moldova from opposition politicians, as well as online harassment and violence, have increased in the context of highly polarized presidential and parliamentary elections. 

CPJ emailed the general police inspectorate, Moldova’s national police, for comment but did not immediately receive a reply. CPJ also emailed Facebook’s parent company, Meta, for comment about any measures planned against Cerlat’s account but did not immediately receive a reply.