Human Rights NGOs Call for Sanctioning Ilan Sor for His Aggressive Statements Against Journalists

Some human rights organisations have showed solidarity with media organisations that condemned the threatening statements made in a video post on social networking sites by Ilan Sor, mayor of Orhei and leader of the political party ‘Șor’, against journalists. According to their statement, these organisations condemn the hate speech and the threats made by Ilan Sor.

They claim that such a behavior is incompatible with democracy, it instigates hatred and violence and cannot be left unsanctioned by the authorities. ‘We believe that these statements go beyond the limits of freedom of expression, because public threats with physical assaults and bodily harm by a politician are inadmissible in a democratic society’, according to the statement of the signatory organisations.

Representatives of human rights NGOs urge the General Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the statements made by Ilan Sor in terms of instigating hatred. Signatory organisations ask law enforcement bodies, public authorities and election authorities to take all the necessary measures to prevent and curb hate speeches, which can become extremely dangerous for the society during an election campaign.

The declaration was signed by Amnesty International Moldova, Legal Resources Centre from Moldova, the Information Centre GENDERDOC-M, Promo-LEX and RCTV Memoria.

Also today, Agora.md portal wrote that the threats launched by Ilan Sor against journalists have already caught the attention of the General Prosecutor’s Office. Maria Vieru, representative of the General Prosecutor's Office, said the Prosecutor's Office was examining the content published by the mayor of Orhei, adding that journalists who felt threatened were urged to file complaints.

Journalist Alexandru Petcov, from Omega portal, has already filed a complaint with the Chief Prosecutor of Chisinau municipality, Ştefan Şaptefraţi, and requested the criminal prosecution of Sor for his statements against journalists.

In the videotape published on 20 July, on the day of protest organized by Ilan Sor, he claims that, once he comes to power, he will apply an eventual lustration law in relation to the inconvenient journalists (whom he defines vaguely as ‘paid to write nasty things about people’). Media non-governmental organisations voiced their concern about the threatening statements against journalists by Ilan Sor, party leader and mayor of Orhei, and reminded that the threats and ultimatum-like tone towards journalists could be regarded as an attempt to impose censorship in the media.