Stipulations regarding communication between media and civil servants limit right to free expression and access to information, say experts

The stipulations of the Civil Servant’s Code of Conduct which say that only an empowered civil servant can communicate with the mass media in the name of the public authorities limit the access to information and the right to free expression, consider representatives of Moldovan media NGOs. Vasile Spinei, the head of “Acces-info” Center, has told Info-Prim Neo that this stipulation is probably unique in the world because it has no logical and legal support and there is no space for it in the Constitution or other laws and in the international documents. The article includes a strange stipulation that limits the people’s freedom of expression. According to Spinei, it is now very difficult for journalists to get the opinions and comments of public figures. But if the law takes effect, there will be probably no civil servants that would have the courage to express certain opinions. The law aims at combating corruption, but to achieve this goal the transparency and the access to information should be stimulated and not the contrary, Spinei said. Petru Macovei, the executive director of the Independent Press Association, considers that by this stipulation the Parliament does not aim at encouraging the cooperation and openness of public institutions. The stipulation does nothing but hinder the work of journalists that encounter a lot of difficulties in their activity in Moldova now as it is rather difficult to get access to information. This provision will contribute to less informed population only, Macovei said. Valeriu Saharneanu, the president of the Journalists Union, thinks that when the law comes into force, the institutions will become fortresses that will release news stories from which we will find out only want the institution wants. It is a tendency aiming at hermetic sealing, not at transparency, he said. According to Cornelia Cozonac, the president of the Investigative Journalism Center, the given stipulation is restrictive and seriously violates the human rights and freedoms, the Constitution of Moldova and a number of international conventions that guarantee the people’s right to any information of public interest, to the freedom of opinion and expression etc. It will hinder the people’s access to information and will intimidate the civil servants that are obliged to provide information of public interest by other laws. Therefore, these provisions run counter to the principle of transparency and the freedom of the press, Cornelia Cozonac said, cited by Info-Prim Neo.