63 MPs stand trial for refusing to tell if they cooperated with secret services

The Chisinau Court of Appeals examines the legal cases opened against the lawmakers who refuse to say if they cooperated with the secret services or not. The MPs were sued by the National Association of Young Historians of Moldova (ANTIM), which is implementing the project “Desecretization of the Archive of Moldova's Security and Information Service.” Several months ago, the lawmakers received letters asking them if they cooperated with the security services. Under the law on the access to information, to which ANTIM makes reference, the persons who possess official information are obliged to make it public on request within 15 days of the workdays when the application for information is submitted. Sixty-three lawmakers did not provide an answer within the required term and ANTIM sued them. Jurist for the project Alexandru Postica told Info-Prim Neo that the preliminary hearings started at the Chisinau Court of Appeals on May 4. The MPs are invited to them to be familiarized with the documents. But the MPs prefer to send their lawyers at this stage. The trials will begin on June 1. “It is ten years since the adoption of the law on the access to information, but 2/3 of the MPs ignore this law. The letters sent to the lawmakers was a test that they did not pass,” Alexandru Postica said. The legisltors of the Liberal Party and the Liberal Democratic Party were the most cooperative. The Communist MPs refuse to answer categorically, while the MPs of the Democratic Party and the Moldova Noastra Alliance provided partial answers. The unaffiliated lawmakers who represent the United Moldova Party and the European Action Movement also did not answer. ANTIM says the project is a test Iniţiatorii proiectului spun că această acţiune este un test pentru clasa politică şi societatea noastră: cât de pregătiţi suntem pentru a deschide arhivele fostului regim totalitar. Campania de lustraţie a deputaţilor este organizată în cadrul proiectului „Desecretizarea arhivei SIS a Republicii Moldova”, sprijinit financiar de Fundaţia „Soros-Moldova”.