The situation of human rights in Moldova is alarming, while the press is the mirror that reflects the sad tendencies and realities in this regard. Through the agency of the press, we actually see the attitude of the state and the public to this issue. The cases of human rights violations in the press are either not penalized or the penalties are not so strict to solve the situation, said Olga Manole, a member of the Press Council of Moldova, coordinator of the Human Rights Program of Promo-LEX Association, IPN reports.
“In Moldova, we have party press and independent press. The party press promotes what the employer says, even if this can affect the human dignity or rights of a person. Only the own interest and benefits count for them and if a political opponent should be denigrated, there are no limits that the party press would not pass. On the other hand, the independent press, in pursuit of audience and profit, often forgets or intentionally neglects the deontological norms and human rights. They argue they need to survive on the media market, which is very harsh. The presumption of innocence or someone’s right to life do not count if the viewings of an article bring profit,” stated Olga Manole.
She noted there is also press that strictly observes the journalist’s deontological norms and human rights. Regrettably, there are few such examples and this press has a very narrow public. There are several causes for such a situation, with the impunity being one of these. In the practice of the Press Council, there are decisions that refer to the presumption of innocence or the human rights. However, the Council’s decisions are recommendatory in character and these do not lead to penalties. Even if such content is corrected or eliminated based on the Council’s decisions, this does not prevent the journalists from committing similar violations in the future.
In this connection, Olga Manole said harsher measures are required. Unfortunately, the Broadcasting Coordination Council neglects its obligation to protect the human dignity. Few of those whose rights were violated go to court to defend themselves. The process is costly and difficult and the impact is often minimal. “I think the 40,000 lei in respect of non-pecuniary damage for a serious case of the violation of the right to a private life is an insufficiently harsh penalty for counteracting such cases in the future,” stated the expert.
As regards the conduct of journalists when the presumption of innocence is violated, Olga Manole said the national legislation is explicit, while the Penal Procedure Code says is clearly that the person accused of an offense is considered innocent until their blame is proved in a public trial that ensures all the necessary guarantees for their defense and will not be stated by a definitive court judgment. The Deontological Code also includes provisions concerning the presumption of innocence. Moreover, in 2012 the Press Council published a Guide of Good Journalistic Practices: Mass Media and Presumption of Innocence. This explains how such situations should be treated step by step. “To my mind, everything is very clear and there is no room for interpretation. I thus do not think that the journalists who violate the presumption of innocence have an excuse,” stated Olga Manole, adding the developments in the mass media sector are mainly due to the political situation in the country as the political class commits human rights violations, controls the press and justice and no law can help in such a situation.
