Center of Journalistic Investigations obtains one more win in a case instituted to the General Prosecution Office

The Center of Journalistic Investigations (CIJ) obtained one more win in a penal case against the General Prosecution Office (PG). According to a press release of the Center, after a long lawsuit, which lasted for two years, the Supreme Justice Court (CSJ) obliged PG to disclose the name of the prosecutors who benefited from illegally offered indemnities. CSJ, the decision of which is irrevocable agreed with CIJ, which sued the Prosecution Office because it refused to offer a series of documents regarding some indemnities for prosecutors, by which caused losses to the state budget. According to the chairman of CIJ, Cornelia Cozonac, the investigation reporters found out in April 2003 about the frauds admitted when pensioning a group of prosecutors. Several state institutions, among which the Presidency and the Parliament, treated with superficiality the demand of the journalists to find out more about this case. According to CIJ, in the end, PG recognized that it admitted some abuses when settling the pensions and that “the money will be returned to the state budget”. The journalists wanted to find out if the money were returned to the state, as well as the name of those who were obliged to give back the indemnities taken illegally. In this respect, all the solicitations of CIJ were ignored by PG, fact which served as a reason for initiating legal proceedings against PG. The lawsuit which started in 2004, finished soon, after CSJ agreed with accusations brought to PG. obliging it to offer information about “the prosecutors who in 2002-2003, illegally received pensions and indemnities and were obliged to restitute to the state budget the money taken illegally; the total restituted sum until the present moment and the actions undertaken in order to restitute the overpayments of MDL 70.7 thousand”. Previously, the Court of Appeal of Chisinau satisfied twice the request of the journalists, on June 7, 2005, and March 9, 2006, obliging back then PG to offer the solicited information, but every time PG attacked by appeal the decision of the Court. In this context, the chairman of CIJ mentioned that “applying the right to information in Moldova showed several categories of information which authorities refuse to present to the public. Among these prohibited topics are the personnel policy, administration of public money, the wages and the sources directed to the payment of pensions of former state servants or employees of the law enforcement bodies”. This year, CSJ offered victory to the Center of Journalistic Investigations for proceedings instituted against the General prosecution due to its refuse to offer accreditation of a reporter. In the last 3 years, CIJ came victorious in at least 15 legal proceedings against state institutions that refused to provide to the journalist information of public interest.