Ombudsman Ceslav Panico requested the Commission for Exceptional Situations to review its decision to suspend the broadcast licenses of the six TV channels. The decision must ensure a just balance between the observance of the right to freedom of expression, the right to ownership and information security, IPN reports, quoting a press release issued by the Ombudsman.

Ceslav Panico initiated a process of examining the arguments and circumstances based on which the CES took such a decision and made an approach to the Commission and the Audiovisual Council.

Preliminarily, the Ombudsman considers the CES order restricts the exercise of the fundamental right to freedom of expression and the right to ownership, if the balance or proportionality between the restricting of these rights and the pursued goal is not proven. He said the given norm can impose unjustified limitation of the fundamental rights and can run counter to the criteria stipulated by the Constitution.

According to Ceslav Panico, by adopting restrictive measures, the authorities exceeded the limit of meeting the condition of minimum interference in ensuring a just balance between the right to freedom of expression, the right to ownership and the ensuring of information security. The assumption of these duties by the CES instead of the court goes against the principle of separation and cooperation of the branches of power, which is guaranteed by the Constitution.

The Ombudsman recommends the authorities to identify less intrusive, alternative measures that have a reasonable tie with the legitimate goal pursued, especially the ensuring of the standards concerning the freedom of expression and the right to ownership, while the suspension measures should be assessed exclusively by the court by respecting the guarantees of a fair trial and in light of the test of legality and legitimacy that is necessary in a democratic society.

On December 16, the Commission for Exceptional Situations (CES) suspended the broadcast licenses of six TV channels for the reason that these cover national events and also the war in Ukraine in a tendentious and manipulative way. These are: Primul în Moldova, RTR Moldova, Accent TV, NTV Moldova, TV6, and Orhei TV.

The given TV channels retransmit in Moldova primarily content of Russian TV channels. It is rumored that most of these channels are under the control of the leader of the Shor Party Ilan Shor, who was put on national and international wanted lists and was convicted by the first court to seven years in jail for involvement in the bank fraud. He was added to the sanctions list by the U.S. and the UK.