Ilan Shor Won’t be Brought to Account for Threating the Journalists

Ilan Shor, mayor of Orhei, won’t be brought to account for threats against journalists. Stefan Saptefrati, head of Chisinau Prosecutor’s Office, told Agora.md that the criminal law did not stipulate that mayor’s acts represented a crime. 
‘On 3 September, a decision to reject the launch of a criminal prosecution was taken. There is no crime deed in his threats’, Stefan Saptefrati said.

Media non-governmental organisations previously voiced their concern about the threatening statements against journalists by Ilan Shor and reminded that the threats and ultimatum-like tone towards journalists could be regarded as an attempt to impose censorship in the media.
Previously, several human rights organisations showed their solidarity with journalists. Representatives of human rights NGOs have asked prosecutors to investigate the statements of Ilan Shor in terms of instigating hatred. Among the signatories of the Declaration were Amnesty International Moldova, Legal Resources Center from Moldova, Information Center GENDERDOC-M, Promo-LEX and RCTV Memoria.

In the videotape published on 20 July, on the day of a protest organised by Ilan Shor, 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’).