The prosecutor's office decided to cease the prosecution against journalist Mariana Rata from the Centre for Investigative Journalism. She was subjected to criminal proceedings initiated following a complaint lodged by Vladimir Botnari, former chief policeman of the capital, on the grounds that his personal data have been accessed. This information was confirmed to us by prosecutor Gheorghe Graur from Chisinau Prosecutor's Office, who has dealt with the case, after the news was published on Realitatea.md portal.

The prosecutor claims that the decision was taken on Wednesday, January 25 and he will give the ordinance late this week. "The document does not provide for other sanctions," said Gheorghe Graur.

"Although Vladimir Botnari filed a complaint requesting the Prosecutor to start criminal proceedings against Mariana Raya for committing the offense under Article 177 of the Criminal Code, which establishes criminal liability for violation of the inviolability of private life, it was clear from the start without questioning the journalist  that there were no constituent elements of the corpus delicti. This is evident from a simple reading of journalistic article that does not contain any information about personal life that would constitute a personal or family secret of another person. Thus, if the article does not contain any information attributed by law to personal or family secret, it means that this information has not been disseminated illegally, "said Valeriu Plesca, lawyer of Mariana Rata.

Defender points that the data used in the article are public, given the previous function of Vladimir Botnari, but also actions in which he was involved. "News of the article is employment of the former chief policeman in a state institution. Therefore, under Article 10 of the Law on the personal data protection, the journalist has not broken this law and presented the information in the limits of the right of the freedom of expression guaranteed by Article 10 ECHR. Let's see if the ordinance is challenged", said defender.

Representatives of several NGOs said in a press conference that this case proves the reluctance of the authorities to investigative journalism and that is an additional argument that there are problems with the Law on personal data protection. "We point that journalists do not have access to information. We should intervene in this law and improve it so that the provisions pertaining to freedom of expression will not hinder the work of journalists”, said Nadine Gogu, executive director of the Independent Journalism Center.

"I saw the case of Mariana Rata in the context of recent attempts to intimidate investigative journalists who carry out well-documented investigations. Also, there are pseudo investigative journalists who are conducting investigations to order and do not face such problems”,  said inter alia, Petru Macovei, executive director of the Independent Press Association.

The article that has displeased Vladimir Botnari refers to his appointment as head of Security Directorate of Moldtelecom. He had been prosecuted for negligence during the events of 7 April 2009 that resulted in the death of Valeriu Boboc. Contacted by Anticoruptie.md portal, Vladimir Botnari confirmed then that he worked for Moldtelecom, but he declined to say details about his position. The reporter of the Center for Investigative Journalism filed in December 2016 a formal request to Moldtelecom to find out about employment conditions in this company and duties of Botnari, but did not get any reply.