Vitalie Gutu to Be Dismissed

The Supreme Court (SC) found inadmissible the appeal of the Teleradio-Moldova company concerning the designation of Vitalie Gutu as director of the News and Debates Department. Thus, the president of Teleradio-Moldova is to annul the order on designation of Vitalie Gutu to this position, writes ziarulnațional.md.

On 12 February the SC issued an irrevocable directive on closing the case. The SC verified the legality of the Center Court decisions, previously challenged by the lawyers of Teleradio-Moldova. Following the verification, the court found the appeal of the Teleradio-Moldova company inadmissible and declarative. Thus, it supported the decision of the Chisinau Center Court of 19 July 2013 that annulled the decision of the Contest Committee on approving the designation of Vitalie Gutu to the position of director of the News and Debates Department.

Legal action against Teleradio-Moldova and Vitalie Gutu was brought by Cornelia Stefoglu, a journalist, who asked for annulment of the Contest Committee decision on Gutu’s designation. She claimed that Vitalie Gutu did not meet the requirements of this position and that his application file was incomplete, containing no proof of at least 2 years of experience in news editing. The court admitted the action brought by Stefoglu, and the decisions of the Contest Committee were annulled. In addition, the public broadcasting company Teleradio-Moldova was required to compensate to Cornelia Stefoglu the litigation costs in the amount of MDL 8,130.

Subsequently, Teleradio-Moldova appealed against the decision of the first instance, but the Court of Appeal rejected its application and supported the decision of the first instance.

Six candidates competed for the position of director of the Moldova 1 News and Debates Department, including journalist Cornelia Stefoglu.