The Constitutional Court (CC) on June 4 will examine the PCRM’s challenge regarding the law that bans the use of the communist symbols – the hammer and sickle. In its application, the PCRM invokes the violation of the constitutional rights of the people to found parties, IPN reports.

The Communist MPs said the hammer and sickle never symbolized a political regime. “This symbol was present on the flag of the former USSR as an official element, not as a symbol of the then regime,” it is said in the challenge. Earlier, a number of members and sympathizers of the PCRM picketed the Palace of the Republic, the Presidential Office and the building of the Constitutional Court, demanding abrogating the law.

Asked by the CC to pronounce on the issue, the Venice Commission said the Moldovan lawmakers were wrong to ban the use of the hammer and sickle. It recommended returning to the previous provisions of the law, arguing that the amendments adopted last summer infringe certain rights and fundamental freedoms.