The Speaker of Parliament demands Moral Damages of 30 thousand Euros from a Media Outlet that had allegedly defamed him

The Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) rejected on June 13 the appeal of the Centru Court from Chisinau on issuing a consultative opinion about the application of Article 15 of the Law on the Freedom of Expression and Article 267 letter (a) of the Civil Procedure Code in the action filed by Speaker Andrian Candu against “Jurnal de Chisinau Plus” company regarding honor, dignity and professional reputation, compensation for moral damages.

Andrian Candu filed a lawsuit against Jurnal TV channel for “defamatory information” about him and demanded, among other things, moral damages in the amount of EUR 30,000. The applicant referred to the “Mai pe Scurt” [“In brief”] broadcast of June 2, 2015, in particular the chapter titled “The thief with a soapy attitude,” where, according to Andrian Candu’s application to court, “denigrating statements” were made, such as: “Who is actually this Candu?” “An individual who lies to us,” “An individual who collaborated in several crimes,” “An individual who stole the future of some children,” “A hangman who visits his victims,” “A thief with a soapy attitude.” The material was aired in the context of the International Children’s Day, after a visit of Andrian Candu to a children’s hospital.

On the other hand, Jurnal TV does not consider it spread false information and claims that it expressed only value judgments. The answer given by Jurnali TV to the applicant says: “You based your preliminary application on the assumption that we spread false reports about facts, but it is an absolutely wrong approach, since the “Mai pe scurt” program, as you recognized in your application, gives opinions and analyses about certain persons and events, which automatically qualifies them as value judgments.”

In the preliminary application, the state official asked the media outlet to publish only a refutation with an apology, without mentioning a financial compensation. As a result, the lawyer of Jurnal TV was entitled to ask the court to dismiss the application in the part regarding moral damages on the grounds on non-exhaustion of the preliminary procedure by the applicant.

The SCJ found that “failure to comply with the preliminary procedure constitutes a basis for rejecting the application for summons (Article 170 p. (1) letter (a) of the Civil Procedure Code), and if the application had been admitted, the court, under Article 267 letter (a) of the CPC, shall dismiss the application (in the part that failed to comply with the preliminary procedure).”

The SCJ in its conclusion of June 13 also says that “The moment of dismissal of an application shall be determined by the court that judges the merits of the case.”

On his Facebook account, Parliament Speaker Andrian Candu explained that he asked for damages in the amount of EUR 30,000 “for purchase of two special (surgical) beds for children who suffered severe burns.”