Media organizations concerned with probing minors accused of instigation to overthrowing constitutional regime by violence

Media NGOs express their concern with probing and lifting the computers of some young men from Chisinau who are interrogated by the Prosecutor's Office, after expressing their opinions in web forums. The youths are accused that “through the portals forum.md, torrentsmd.com, desteptarea.info and unimedia.md, they repeatedly called to violently overthrow the constitutional regime and to liquidate the statehood and territorial integrity of Moldova”, Info-Prim Neo reports. 7 media NGOs issue a joint declaration drawing the attention to the fact that the opinions expressed by the youths should be separated from possible facts that could be liable to the Penal Code. The NGOs consider that, at least in the case of the comments published on Unimedia's forum, there is no legal ground to qualify them as “public calls to violently overthrow the constitutional regime and to liquidate the statehood and territorial integrity of Moldova ”. The NGOs point out that probing the adolescents is the third move of the kind in 2008, after in January-March, the law-enforcement bodies interrogated listeners of Vocea Basarabiei radio and participants in open-air debates organized by the Journalists Union. The reason of the interrogations was the same: incriminations of instigating to violently overthrow the constitutional regime in their interventions in interactive programs or at the free microphone. The signatory organizations remark the Prosecutor's probe comes after the meeting of President Vladimir Voronin with Moldovan media directors, when he insured the current government would not restrict the freedom of expression. In this context, the media NGOs call on the Moldovan authorities to stick to their word. In accordance with the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice no. 8 of 9 October 2006 “for the criticism or insult of the nation, of the state or of its symbols, nobody can be punished, only except when those criticisms and insults are aimed at or capable of inciting to imminent violence”. According to “Declaration on freedom of political debate in the media”, adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on February 12, 2004, “Because of their dominant position, these institutions as such should not be protected by criminal law against defamatory or insulting statements. Where, however, these institutions enjoy such a protection, this protection should be applied in a restrictive manner, avoiding in any circumstances its use to restrict freedom to criticise”, the organizations remind. The declaration is signed by the Independent Journalism Center, the Independent Press Association, the Electronic Press Association, the Acces-info Center, the Investigative Journalism Center, the Journalists Union from Moldova and the Press Freedom Committee.