The court of first instance dismisses the lawsuits filed against the Cu Sens editorial office for an investigation published in 2021

The Chișinău District Court has dismissed as unfounded the lawsuits filed by businessman Vladimir Russu and the company Accent Electronic against the media project Cu Sens, as well as journalists Liuba Șevciuc and Daniela Guțu. The dispute concerned an investigation published in 2021 on how public money was spent on the purchase of laptops for schools during the pandemic, including contracts with Accent Electronic and affiliated companies. The Independent Journalism Center provided legal assistance to Cu Sens in this case.

The case refers to the investigation “Digital ne merge prost” (Digital is not working for us), published by Cu Sens on October 25, 2021, which showed that the Ministry of Education spent approximately 70 million lei on the purchase of laptops for distance learning during the pandemic, many of which were not used. At the same time, the investigation indicated that a large part of the funds was allocated to a single public procurement, won by Accent Electronic, a company founded by Vladimir Russu, a figure in the entourage of fugitive politician Vladimir Plahotniuc.

According to the ruling, the plaintiffs sought to defend their honor, dignity, and professional reputation, citing alleged damage to their image, as well as compensation for legal costs.

After examining the case, the court found that there were no legal grounds for admitting the actions and dismissed them in their entirety. At the same time, Judge Svetlana Cușnir ordered Accent Electronic to pay legal assistance costs to the Cu Sens editorial office in the amount of 10,075.95 lei.

“The fact that they sued us both as individuals and as a legal entity, that they sued both the reporters and the founders, as well as the editorial office, gives us reasonable grounds to suspect that these actions are abusive lawsuits, a concerted attack to prevent us from doing our work, which is known internationally as the SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) phenomenon,” wrote Cu Sens co-founder Liuba Șevciuc in an opinion article on Media Azi.

The decision was handed down on February 9, 2026, and can be appealed to the Court of Appeals within 30 days.