10 media NGOs assert the recently passed Law on the Code of Conduct of the Public Servant hides interests of strangulating the freedom of expression, of intimidating functionaries and runs counter the national Constitution and the European norms. The position was made public Monday evening in a joint declaration of the NGOs, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to its authors, lately in Moldova, on a background of numerous statements on the need to have institutional transparency, to fight corruption, the cases of intimidating journalists, of restricting the access to information and of accentuated restriction of the freedom of expression have become more and more frequent. A depictive example in this respect is the Parliament’s adopting the Law on the Conduct Code of the Public Servant, which, establishing five principles a functionary should guide himself by, lacks the transparency principle. According to the Code, “in the name of the public authority, the communication with the media is realized only by the entitled public servant,” without specifying who, when and how will be empowered with this exclusive right. Respectively, no other functionary will have the right to offer information on the operations of own institutions. The Law provides that any breach of the Code represents a disciplinary deviation liable to the law on the public service and the labor legislation. The authors of the statement believe the interdiction is aimed at intimidating, scaring the functionaries who’ll not run the risk any more to express own views, to criticize and to unveil certain violations, fearing to be sanctioned. That provision contradicts the Constitutional norm, under which “the right of the person to have access to any information of public interest may not be restricted.” It also runs counter the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which stipulates that: “Anyone has the right to the freedom of opinion and expression,” and counter the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: “No one must suffer because of his/her opinions.” Passing the Code, the MPs neglected the Law on the access to information which is an organic one and corresponds to all the international requirements, the declaration reads. This new law is hasty and conceals interests of strangulating the freedom of expression, of intimidating functionaries. Moreover, the MPs adopted the law totally ignoring the last decisions of the European Court of Human Rights versus Moldova in the area of the freedom of expression. The authors of the document call on the President of the Republic of Moldova not to sign to enact the law. The declaration has been signed by the “Acces-info” Center, the Independent Journalism Center, the Independent Press Association, the Journalistic Investigating Center, the APEL Electronic Press Association, the Press Freedom Committee, the Journalists Union from Moldova, the “Monitor Media” Agency, the Media Center of Communication for Democracy, the ECOU Association for Combating Informational Isolation.