The article was also criticized by intellectuals such as Ovidiu Șimonca, Ioan T. Morar and Mircea Mihăieș. Writing for "Observator Cultural", Șimonca argued that it was evidence of "defamation", that the information, which he deemed "horrific" and "hard to believe", was not substantiated by evidence, and that "Ziua" had vested interest in spreading rumors about Vladimir Tismăneanu. He also asked if "Ziua" 's campaign was not itself motivated by "Securitate structures". In an editorial for the local newspaper "Monitorul de Suceava", titled "Prietenul meu, Vladimir Tismăneanu" ("My Friend, Vladimir Tismăneanu"), Morar dismissed the article as "hogwash, egregious lies and let-ins", commenting that the claims made in regard to Tismăneanu's stay in Venezuela were "an aberration stemming from a rather obvious psychiatric diagnosis". He also made references to the fact that "Ziua"'s editor in chief, Sorin Roșca-Stănescu, was himself a proven Securitate informant, arguing that the tactics employed by the newspaper in question were the equivalent of "blackmail". Soon afterward, Roșca-Stănescu issued a formal apology for those particular claims (while expressing further criticism of various aspects of Tismăneanu's biography).