Justice Minister reacts to the CIJM statement: „Harassment of journalists through criminal proceedings is unacceptable"

Cornelia Cozonac
03/02/2022
MJ

The Minister of Justice, Sergiu Litvinenco, describes as "unacceptable the harassment of journalists who carried out journalistic investigations into the property of state officials through criminal proceedings." The official reacted on Thursday to the statement of the Center for Investigative Journalism, which warned of a judge's attempt to force prosecutors to start criminal cases against journalists who conducted a journalistic investigation into the undeclared property of a prosecutor.

"With regard to the statement of the Center for Investigative Journalism and without going into the details of the case that I do not know; I consider it unacceptable the harassment of journalists who conducted journalistic investigations into the property of state officials through criminal proceedings. This must be understood by all, including judges, but especially by officials themselves. Occupation of the civil service automatically implies an increased interest on the part of society in the property owned by a civil servant, but also fewer freedoms than a simple citizen. I hope there is a technical and / or procedural confusion. Otherwise, it seems that the judiciary protects officials against whom there are reasonable suspicions that they cannot justify their property to the detriment of the media's right to report on those facts, which is inadmissible. In our fight against corruption, the transparency of the revenues and expenditures of civil servants is important, and the media helps us.

I encourage journalists to continue to investigate and to monitor the property of civil servants. Especially since, many times, journalistic investigations reveal cases of illicit enrichment and unjustified property ", wrote Minister Litvinenco on his Facebook page.

The Center for Investigative Journalism in Moldova (CIJM), a non-governmental organization specializing in investigative journalism, on Thursday expressed concern over a magistrate's decision to force prosecutors to start criminal cases against the Center for Investigative Journalism, Cornelia Cozonac and Julieta Savitchi, but also against the civic activist Anatol Mătăsaru, for accessing and collecting personal data and information for a journalistic investigation regarding the undeclared property of a prosecutor and his ex-wife.

"This is the first criminal case against journalists from Moldova who have done their professional work, which sets a dangerous precedent and seriously undermines the media and freedom of expression. Journalists have accessed and collected legally, using legal methods of documentation, information about the undeclared property of prosecutor Igor Popa and his ex-wife Ala Popa, for which they cannot be held criminally liable ", reads the statement of the Center for Investigative Journalism,

Anticoruptie.md portal is a project of the Center for Investigative Journalism.

Cornelia Cozonac
03/02/2022




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