Chisinau Appellate Court rejects complaint of Independent Press Association

The Chisinau Appellate Court rejected as groundless a complaint lodged by the Independent Press Association (IPA) and by Coalition-2009 against a decision of the Central Election Commission (CEC) to warn the IPA as to an article published in supplement Obiectiv. The IPA will sue the writ in the Supreme Court of Justice, said Petru Macovei, the executive manager of the association, on Saturday, March 14, Info-Prim Neo reports. In case the IPA does not win the case in the Supreme Court, it will submit a request to the European Court for Human Rights. “It's inadmissible to ban the citizens' right to opinion and the free flow of ideas, and it doesn't matter that the election campaign is on now,” Petru Macovei said. Sergiu Sarbu, the Communists Party's (PCRM) representative at the CEC, said he agreed with the court's decision. “The decision is in our favor,” Sarbu said. In an article published by Obiectiv, experts in different areas analyzed the promises the ruling Communists Party made in the 2005 elections. The CEC's decision on this issue also requests the Foreign Ministry to warn the National Endowment for Democracy NGO from the USA about having financially supported activities related to electioneering, what runs counter the Moldovan election law.