Censorship and political control by State authorities at State Television Company
/Manole and others v the Republic of Moldova (13936/02)
Briefing on 1 March 2024
The presentation on the case was provided by Cristina Frumosu-Durnea, Media lawyer at the Independent Journalism Centre.
Powerpoint by Cristina Frumosu-Durnea
Latest Rule 9.2 Communication from the Independent Journalism Centre (January 2024)
This case concerns undue interferences with the right of freedom of expression of journalists, editors and producers working at the state television company Teleradio-Moldova on account of censorship and political control by the state authorities in the period 2001-2006. The Court found a violation of Article 10 arising inter alia from insufficient statutory guarantees of independence for the public broadcaster. It noted that the legislative framework had been flawed throughout, in that it did not provide sufficient safeguards against the control of Teleradio-Moldova’s senior management, and thus its editorial policy, by the political organ of the government.
The Court indicated under Article 46 that the Republic of Moldova was under a legal obligation to take general measures at the earliest opportunity to remedy the situation, including by undertaking legislative reform to ensure that the legal framework complies with the requirements of Article 10, which also takes into account the Committee of Ministers' Recommendation Rec(96)10 on the guarantees of the independence of public service broadcasting and the recommendations of the Council of Europe experts on the draft law on public service broadcasting in Moldova.