The Orhei Court Ruled in Favour of Journalist Sofroni

Orhei Court (based in Rezina) by its decision of 20 March, terminated the contravention proceedings initiated by Rezina Prosecutor’s Office in July 2018 against Victor Sofroni, founder of the ‘Cuvantul’ independent weekly newspaper from Rezina town and director of ‘Impuls TV’ from Soldanesti town. The judge Veronica Cupcea issued such decision due to lacking elements of contravention. Prosecutors accused Victor Sofroni of intentional fake police call, while he only asked the law enforcement officers to check the information about a possible offence he received from anonymous sources.

Thus, the court concluded that the charge imputed to Victor Sofroni through the ordinance on the commencement of contravention proceedings is presumed declarative, not corroborated by clear evidence. Court also found that during the phone call Victor Sofroni did not warn Rezina Police Inspectorate about the images he had received, but instead asked it to prove or disprove this information. The judgement is final, but it may be challenged in the Chisinau Court of Appeal within 15 days, via Orhei Court.

Note that media NGOs called the reasons for initiating these proceedings and the legal classification of the alleged ‘contravention’ absurd, given that the journalist Victor Sofroni just asked the police to verify the information he received from unknown persons. They also requested to close the case.
The Independent Journalism Center provides the journalist with legal assistance in this case.
See also: The Orhei Court Annulled Prosecutors’ Ordinances in the Case of Journalist Victor Sofroni Who Was Accused of False Police Call