CASE OF COJOCARU v. ROMANIA
Violation of Article 10 - Freedom of expression -{General} (Article 10-1 - Freedom of expression)
Ján Šikuta;Josep Casadevall;Kristina Pardalos;Luis López Guerra
5. The applicant was born in 1971 and lives in Paşcani. 6. The applicant is a journalist and chief editor of the local weekly magazine, Orizontul. 7. The applicant wrote an article about R.N., the mayor of Paşcani, which appeared in the 15-21 February 2005 edition of that magazine under the headline “Resignation of honour”, listing ten points advocating the mayor’s resignation. The article contained references to the mayor’s activities, with wording such as “Twenty years of local dictatorship”; “[R.N.] at the peak of the pyramid of evil”; “in Paşcani, only those who subscribe to [R.N.]’s mafia-like system can still do business”; “we have been ruled for over twenty years by a former communist who still has the reflexes of a county chief secretary”; and “[R.N.] does not represent the interests of the [local community]”. 8. On the same page, the applicant wrote a news piece about an investigation into the mayor’s activities. He quoted a statement by a politician about an ongoing investigation into some of the mayor’s activities by the prefectural standards board. The article also contained a statement by another politician and the mayor’s point of view on the investigation. 9. On 14 March 2005 R.N. lodged a criminal complaint with the Paşcani District Court, accusing the applicant of insult and defamation. He also sought civil damages. 10. On 19 December 2005 the court convicted the applicant of defamation and ordered him to pay a criminal fine of 10,000,000 Romanian lei (ROL) and to pay to R.N., together with the publishing company, ROL 30,000,000 in compensation for non-pecuniary damage. It acquitted him of the accusations of insult. 11. The court noted that the applicant had submitted official documents proving that there had been irregularities in the activities of the public administration, but considered that that proof alone was not sufficient to justify making those statements of fact. The court reiterated that a journalist had a general obligation to act in good faith: “Although irregularities have been found in the activity of the Pașcani Agency for the Administration of Markets, this fact alone did not entitle the applicant to write that the victim was a ‘Mafioso who received bribes from businessmen’ in order to create facilities for them, as there is no evidence to support these statements. According to the Code of Press Ethics the right to freedom of expression comes with duties and responsibilities, the journalists having an obligation to act in good faith, in order to provide accurate and credible information.” In establishing the sentence, the court took into account the applicant’s criminal record, as he had previously been convicted of insult and defamation. 12. The applicant appealed on points of law, arguing, in particular, that the statement that had brought about his conviction was not an imputation of a crime, as required for the existence of calumny. Moreover, he pointed out that he had not written the sentence quoted by the District Court, namely that the mayor was a Mafioso who received bribes from local businessmen. 13. In a final decision of 27 April 2006 the Iaşi County Court upheld the previous decision. The court of appeal confirmed the lower court’s finding and explained that the expression “subscribe to ... a mafia-like system” was defamatory of the victim. It further reiterated the journalist’s obligation to act in good faith, and took the view that in not limiting his assertions to what was necessary to inform the public, the applicant had made value judgments intended to defame the mayor. It also noted that the applicant had failed to abide by the warnings given to him by way of previous convictions for similar facts and had persisted in his criminal behaviour.