The members of the parliamentary group of the Bloc of Communists and Socialists (BCS) Adrian Lebedinschi and Grigore Novac asked the Constitutional Court to determine the constitutionality of the amendments to the Contravention Code adopted by Parliament on April 7. The MPs refer to the ban on the use of particular symbols, including the black and orange ribbon of Saint George, IPN reports.

The MPs consider the adopted amendments are illegal, arguing that Article 32 of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova guarantees the right to freedom of opinion and expression. The adopted law runs counter to the international doctrine and practices of European courts and also to a number of fundamental human rights documents.

“Given that under the supreme law, the Republic of Moldova is a democratic state with the rule of law in which the human dignity, rights and freedoms, free personality development, justice and political pluralism are supreme values, the MPs requested the Constitutional Court to declare the adopted amendments unconstitutional,” the Party of Socialists noted in a press release.

Under the amendments made to the Contravention Code, the symbols and elements that promote acts of military aggression, war crimes and crimes against humanity were banned in the Republic of Moldova. Among these are the bicolor black-orange ribbon known as the ribbon of Saint George and the letters “Z” and “V”. The persons who will spread the banned symbols, including online, will be fined.