Ombudsman urges mayor to prevent protests or change place where they are staged

Ombudsman Oleg Efrim says that the pensioners' protest of September 29 held in front of the Chisinau City Hall created traffic impediments and destabilized public order. He called on the Mayor of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca not to admit actions that lead to the infringement of the human rights and freedoms, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a letter to the mayor, Oleg Efrim stresses that the special importance of the freedom of assembly is defined in article 40 of the Constitution of Moldova, which says that “the meetings, demonstrations, protests, marches or any other kind of rallies are free and can be staged and held only peacefully, with no firearms.” At the same time, article 55 of the Constitution says that any person should exercise the constitutional rights and freedoms in good faith, without violating the rights and freedoms of the other people. Making mention to these articles, the ombudsman urged Dorin Chirtoaca to act in accordance with the Constitution, the law on the local public administration and the law on assembly and to immediately inform the court about the change of the place of the protest, if the event that is to take place could block traffic.