Tuk.md online media platform won the case at the court of original jurisdiction in a case concerning the right of access to information. Thus, Taraclia Mayor’s Office shall provide the information on spending public funds requested by the platform’s journalists. The decision was issued by Cahul Court, Central Headquarters, on March 3, 2022. Tuk.md newsroom was offered the legal support from the Independent Journalism Center.
The information request from Tuk.md portal was filed on April 20, 2022. “We requested the data regarding the funds spent from the city budget for renovation of the conference hall of the Taraclia Mayor’s Office, as well as some offices. We also asked for the information on the funds that the Mayor’s Office had requested from the Ministry of Finance in summer 2022 to avoid closing the kindergartens for two months,” Lidia Hadarah, editor-in-chief of the media institution, explained to Media Azi.
Maxim Todorov, the attorney in charge of protecting the interests of Tarsmi, the company which owns Tuk.md, specified that the newsroom did not receive the information requested, and for this reason, the appealed to court. “At the initial court hearings, the representative of Taraclia Mayor’s Office was present. Later, at the final meeting, during which we analyzed the case for all intents and purposes, no one appeared. Hence, the court obliged the Mayor’s Office to provide the information requested. Its representatives may contest the decision at the Court of Appeal within the next 30 days,” the lawyer says.
Tuk.md online media platform operates in the southern region of the Republic of Moldova.