The Supreme Council of Magistrates will institute disciplinary proceedings against the president of the Supreme Court of Justice Ion Muruianu. The Council made the decision at a meeting on February 23, after deliberating for more than an hour, Info-Prim Neo reports. A number of mass media and nongovernmental organizations demanded that Ion Muruianu be dismissed after he labeled the journalists “rabid dogs that become dangerous for the society” at the general assembly of judges on February 13. Before the magistrates reached the decision, Muruianu said he regrets it that he used labels against the press, but does not consider it necessary to resign. He stressed that the large number of cases lost by Moldova at the European Court of Human Rights is also due to the fact that the journalists damage the image of the Moldovan judiciary, naming the judges corrupt. In reply, Minister of Justice Alexandru Tanase, who is an ex offcio member of the Supreme Council of Magistrates, said Muruianu misinterpreted the situation. Before the magistrates started to discuss the issue, Ion Muruianu asked that Alexandru Tanase be not allowed to take part in the deliberations as journalist Constantin Tanase, the minister's father, was among those who lodged petitions with the Council. However, the Council allowed Alexandru Tanase to participate. Ion Muruianu was invited to the February 25 meeting of the Parliament to provide explanations over his statements. The legislative body is empowered to take a final decision as regards the dismissal of the president of the Supreme Court of Justice.