Five former officers convicted for illegal interception of communications of activists, journalists, politicians

Five former investigative officers were found guilty of violating the inviolability of private life and breaching the right to secrecy of correspondence, after ordering and carrying out special investigative measures targeting civic activists, journalists, members of political parties and representatives of civil society. The sentence was delivered on August 20, 2026 by the Chisinau Court, Buiucani office.

Among those convicted is the former head of Directorate No. 5 within the National Investigation Inspectorate of the General Police Inspectorate. The court released all five from criminal punishment due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for criminal liability.

According to evidence collected by the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, during 2017–2018 the former head of Directorate No. 5 allegedly organized the submission of data containing false information about alleged mass disorder events and about persons who were supposedly going to participate. The data included names, contact details and phone numbers.

Subsequently, at his instruction and under his direct control, the other officers allegedly submitted reports to prosecutors from the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases in three criminal cases. According to prosecutors, the reports were drawn up without cumulatively meeting the legal conditions regarding the necessity and proportionality of special investigative measures.

On the basis of these reports, the initiation and later extension of measures such as interception and recording of communications, visual surveillance, collection of information from electronic communications service providers, and documentation using technical methods and means were requested.

These reports, later presented to investigative judges of the Chisinau District Court, formed the basis of rulings authorizing the special investigative measures.

The Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office states that the protest events invoked as grounds for initiating the criminal investigation either did not take place, or were legally authorized, or were not accompanied by acts of violence. Moreover, the connection between the authors of certain online comments and the persons subsequently subjected to special investigative measures was allegedly not proven by evidence. In the course of the trial, the court partially upheld the civil actions filed by the injured parties. The five defendants must jointly pay compensation for non‑pecuniary damage caused by the offense to the 14 persons who supported the civil action. Each of them will receive between 35,000 and 40,000 lei, the total amount set by the court being 495,000 lei.

The sentence may be appealed to the Court of Appeal Center within 15 days.