The court of first instance orders the CA to re-examine a complaint filed by Vlad Batrîncea against Moldova 1

The Chișinău Court of Justice has upheld the lawsuit filed by MP Vlad Batrîncea against the Audiovisual Council (CA) and overturned the decision of July 29, 2022, regarding the examination of his complaint against the public company Teleradio-Moldova. The court ordered the CA to re-examine the complaint filed by the MP on July 5, 2022.

The dispute is based on a complaint filed by Vlad Batrîncea after the May 20, 2022, edition of the program “Bună seara” (“Good evening”) on the public channel Moldova 1. According to the complaint, the politician claimed that the moderator Mircea Surdu had made defamatory statements about him, including by associating his name with the expression “the world that is a millionaire.” Batrîncea argued before the audiovisual authority that the information was not supported by facts and requested that the actions of the public media service provider be investigated and that it be sanctioned.

In its decision adopted on July 29, 2022, the Audiovisual Council rejected the complaint. The authority upheld Teleradio-Moldova’s position that the presenter’s statement had been misinterpreted by the complainant. Representatives of the public company stated that the moderator had made a distinction between “millionaires” and “those who accuse the government of genocide,” and that Vlad Batrîncea had only been mentioned in the second category. At the same time, Teleradio-Moldova argued that it had offered the politician the opportunity to participate in a subsequent television debate.

Batrîncea complained to the court, and in a recent ruling, the Chișinău District Court did not directly sanction the public broadcaster, but decided that the CA’s decision should be overturned and the case re-examined. Specifically, judge Grigorii Cazacu ruled to overturn the CA’s decision of July 29, 2022, and ordered the authority to review Vlad Batrîncea’s complaint of July 5, 2022.

The ruling was handed down on December 8, 2025. The Audiovisual Council states that its representatives were not summoned to the court hearing at which the ruling in question was handed down, nor did they subsequently receive a copy of the document. The institution will continue to take all necessary measures in this case.