The Foundation For The Defense Of Citizens Against State Abuses (FACIAS) believes that cyber attacks on the online publication World of Justice and any censorship of the press pave the way for future limitations on freedom of expression. FACIAS calls on the competent authorities to carry out investigations to identify the source of these attacks, especially as other media channels have also faced similar problems over time..
In recent days, the site ”Lumea Justiției” has been the victim of a large-scale cyber-attack, which has resulted in server crashes, forcing affected computers to continuously access a target site until it crashes.
Although the administrators of the online publication have publicly reported these attacks on the portal, to date no public institution responsible for cybercrime has announced any investigation with a view to taking specific measures to hold accountable and deter the perpetrators.
FACIAS believes that the failure of the authorities to act can undermine one of the basic principles of any functioning democracy - freedom of expression and opinion.
Moreover, FACIAS recalls that Romania is among the few countries condemned by the ECHR for interference in the freedom of the press and violation of the right to free expression. See the cases of Laurian Ieremeiov v Romania, Barb v Romania, Petru Frasila and Lucica Ciocirlan v Romania, and the list could go on.
It is also an obligation of the media to bring to the attention of the public some judicial errors, abuses committed by state institutions or court decisions that affect the entire population.
Moreover, as we have seen, the press has not once succeeded in revealing, through its own investigations, the misconduct of representatives of state institutions, whether judges or politicians, or violations of fundamental rights.
FACIAS Press Office