The court of first instance rejected the appeals filed by TV8 and ProTV Chișinău against the sanctions imposed in connection with the coverage of Andreea Cuciuc’s death
Mihaela Ciobanu
On Tuesday, March 10, the Chișinău Court rejected TV8’s claims against several sanctions imposed by the Audiovisual Council (CA) at the end of 2024 for misconduct in a story about the death and funeral of Andreea Cuciuc. An identical decision was handed down on Wednesday, March 11, regarding ProTV Chișinău.
The decision challenged by the television stations was issued during the CA meeting on December 19, 2024. The authority then examined the results of a monitoring of how the death of Andreea Cuciuc was covered by several television stations with large audiences.
The Audiovisual Council fined TV8 10,000 lei after finding that the television station had broadcast an excerpt from an interview with Andreea’s colleague, the minor Oleg Spînu, even though there is a ban on audiovisual content that represents “interviews or statements in which minors are asked for their opinions on intimate family issues or issues that are beyond their power of judgment.” According to the decision, unlike other providers, TV8 broadcast only one report on the death, and the minor was interviewed only by telephone, without emotionally impactful images.
In the case of ProTV Chișinău, the CA issued a public warning and a fine of 13,000 lei, finding that the reports showed images of minors “in a visible state of distress, caused by the tragic event of the death and the funeral procession,” although “the minor’s right to privacy and to their own image prevails over the need for information,” and the station also broadcast content that included statements by minors about circumstances that “exceed their power of judgment.”
TV8’s appeal against the sanction imposed by the Audiovisual Council was rejected by magistrate Veronica Jomiru-Niculiță, and the appeal filed by ProTV Chișinău was rejected by judge Gheorghe Mîțu. The court’s decisions may be appealed to the Chișinău Court of Appeal within 30 days of the date of the ruling.
Following that inspection, the CA sanctioned five stations with fines of 113,000 lei and public warnings. These were Moldova 1, ProTV Chișinău, Tezaur TV, Star TV, One TV, and TV8. The decision was challenged in court by Moldova 1, but the action was dismissed as unfounded on July 25, 2025.
In the deliberations at the time, CA Vice President Aneta Gonța emphasized that audience ratings can be achieved by means other than resorting to sensationalism and appealing to strong emotions.
Previously, Mediacritica addressed how several media outlets, both audiovisual and online, published or distributed, contrary to ethical standards, unedited images of the coffin and the lifeless body of the young woman and filmed close-ups of her grieving parents.
