Jurnal TV Is Ordered by the Court of Initial Jurisdiction to Disprove the Information Broadcast about Two Former Police Officers and to Recompense Them for Non-Pecuniary Damage

The Jurnal TV channel was ordered by the court of initial jurisdiction to disprove the information broadcast three years ago regarding former police officers Alexei Vizdan and Ion Tarna. The decision issued on March 3 obliges the media provider to offer a public apology and to pay the protagonists 25400 lei each as moral damage and judicial expenses.

Alexei Vizdan and Ion Tarna addressed the court after the investigation titled “Concealed Assets and Interests at Dubasari PI” was aired and subsequently re-broadcast by the channel according to the broadcasting schedule as a news item in the newsletters. According to the material, “the police officers from Dubasari got allegedly enriched using such illegal ways as cigarette smuggling, fraud, and acts of corruption.”

Based on the complaints for protecting their dignity and professional reputation, the Chisinau Court, Centru Headquarters, obliged the TV channel “to disprove false and defamatory reports about Alexei Vizdan and Ion Tarna” and to offer a public apology. The court also ordered Jurnal TV to pay each protagonist 25400 lei as moral damages and judicial expenses.

The lawsuit was partially admitted, according to the court decision, and can be appealed against within 30 days.

Previously, the Chisinau Court magistrates rejected Jurnal TV’s appeal against the Broadcasting Council’s decision to sanction the channel for failing to provide correct information while broadcasting the news items about former police officers Alexei Vizdan, Ion Tarna, and Igor Axenti. The petitioners accused the TV channel of breaching their rights by airing the investigation titled “Assets and Interests at Dubasari PI,” the reports titled “Police Officers from Dubasari as Seen by the NIA,” “Leaks from the Vizdan&Tarna File,” and “They Intended to Take over the Management of Dubasari PI,” and the news item titled “They Broke into the Jurnal TV Premises.”