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The participants in the Media Forum 2018, within the panel ‘Access to Information and Transparency of Public Institutions: one thing on paper, another in fact?’ discussed about such situations. The event was conducted by Alina Radu, director of Ziarul de Garda.
The journalist Cornelia Cozonac, the Director of the Center for Investigative Journalism, told that she sent to a public institution an information request which was not accepted because it did not contain the electronic signature issued by the Center of Special Telecommunication state enterprise. ‘I have an electronic signature with which I sign the bills, but I was told that I need another one, confirmed by the Specialized Center. But, it costs MDL 350 a month. I don’t think it is correct, especially since the Law on Access to Information does not provide for such a thing’, Cozonac said.
The CIJM Director believes that access to information has worsened during the last years. But, she appeals to journalists not to discourage and continue to ‘bomb’ authorities with information requests to change their attitude and mentality in relation to journalists.
In her turn, Lilia Zaharia, a reporter at the Association of Independent Press, said that the National Integrity Agency didn’t answer to a request for information because, in the opinion of the officials, she didn’t formulated correctly it from the point of view of the Law on Petition. ‘I and my colleagues from Moldova Curata said that in such cases all we can do is publicly condemn such formal answers and objections, so that citizens know who restricts their access to information of public interest’, Lilia Zaharia mentioned.
In the context of limiting the access to information by authorities, the lawyer Nadejda Hriptievschi from Legal Resources Centre of Moldova (LRCM) reminded about the recent draft Law on Personal Data Protection, voted in the first reading by MPs. ‘This draft law includes the exception to all the strictnesses for personal data processing and protection, but the principle of proportionality between the right of personal data protection and freedom of expression and access to public information is not provided for. It is not provided in Article 4, where all the principles are listed, but it appears as a separate article’, Hriptievschi highlighted.
Alina Radu, the moderator of the panel, added that she was surprised by the size of the fines proposed to sanction cases of violating this law. ‘I understood that if a high official felt affected by our writings, the fines could exceed MDL 1 million’, Alina Radu stated.
The panel participants proposed that the final resolution of the Forum include the requirement for the authorities to be more open to the press and not to misinterpret the provisions of the European Directive in the process of harmonizing national legislation on personal data protection.
