Journalists claim that they were treated improperly on Sunday at the Buiucani Court

Journalists were treated disrespectfully by law enforcement while they were waiting for hours for the decision of the Buiucani district judge in the case of former prime minister and MP of the Liberal Democratic Party Vlad Filat, accused of corruption. They had been staying on their feet for 7 hours in a narrow corridor supervised by masked employees of the National Anticorruption Center (NAC) and other unidentified persons. In addition to the fact that media representatives were not allowed to video record the proclamation of the decision on the case, some journalists said they were insulted by NAC employees.

Ghenadie Brega, reporter for Curaj TV, claims he heard a masked person that was guarding the entry to the judge’s office, where the hearing was taking place, address the journalists with injurious language.

NAC press secretary Angela Starinski, who was informed about the case, said that NAC officers rejected the journalists’ accusations. She added that besides NAC officers there were guards from other structures at the court to ensure the safety of participants of this landmark case.
Journalists were also not allowed to video record the proclamation of the judge’s decision for the reason that the room where proceedings were taking place could not accommodate all reporters. The court’s proposal to allow filming to only a limited number of cameramen was rejected by the majority of journalists as a violation of the right to assist at the proclamation of the judgment.