Media nongovernmental organizations condemn the “abusive and defiant” actions taken by employees of the State Guard and Protection Service against journalists who fulfill their duty of informing society about events of public interest. On September 9, 2020, employees of the Service who guard President Igor Dodon barred journalists’ access to the exit of the building of the Central Election Commission so as to prevent them from putting questions to the President who came to submit the documents for registering his initiative group, IPN reports.
The media NGOs remind the protection officers that under Article 4 of the Law on the State Guard and Protection Service, the Service must operate in accordance with the principle of legality and respect for the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of the people. Also, under the provisions of the Law on the Freedom of Expression, no one can prevent or ban the mass media from disseminating information of public interests in legal conditions.
Also, Under the Penal Code, the intentional obstruction of the media or journalists in the course of duty is punished criminally. “The State Guard and Protection Service is a state body financed with public funds and it should defend the officials from physical dangers, not from journalists’ questions.”
The media NGOs signal that this is not the first case that employees of the State Guard and Protection Service abuse their authority in relation to representatives of the media and defy the principle of freedom of the press. They ask the Service to renounce such vicious and illegal practices and to train the officers to counteract the abusive behavior towards journalists.
The condemnation declaration was signed by the Independent Journalism Center, the Association of Independent Press, the Electronic Press Association, the Association of Independent Telejournalists, the Center “Acces-Info”, RISE Moldova, the Association of Environment and Ecotourism Journalists and the Committee for the Freedom of the Press.
