Ziarul de Garda Wins a Lawsuit against Fiodor Ghelici, an Activist Mentioned in the Weekly Newspaper’s Journalistic Investigation

The journalistic investigation titled “Moldova Mea”: Volunteering for Money and Donations Failing to Reach Their Destination” published by ZdG in August 2020, informs about the activity of several persons who claimed they volunteered for the association, and states that the money they were collecting for people in need did not reach its destination. “Moldova Mea” insisted on disproving this information, granting them the right to reply, and paying compensation equal to 5.000 lei for the moral damage.

No representatives of “Moldova Mea” attended the court session, and Cristina Durnea, the lawyer from the Center for Independent Journalism empowered to represent ZdG’s interests in court, requested to exclude the application from the list of lawsuits to be examined. The ruling could be appealed against at the Chisinau Court of Appeal within 15 days. Ziarul de Garda writes that the leader of “Moldova Mea” Association has not contested the ruling of the court of original jurisdiction in the hierarchically superior court or filed a new lawsuit. According to the newspaper, Fiodor Ghelici requested to disprove two sentences about the number of bank accounts and vehicles mentioned in the investigation from the entire published material regarding the activity of the Association he manages.

It should be mentioned that the Independent Journalism Center offers free legal counseling to journalists and media organizations. In addition, the IJC may offer free representation in court in cases where the rights of the media are contested.