In the case of Oleg Balan v. the Republic of Moldova the Court held that there had been a violation of the right to respect for private and family life.

The case concerned the publication of a document by Mr Usatîi, the leader of an opposition party, on his Facebook page, which he claimed had been written by the Moldovan Security and Information Service and addressed to the President. The document accused Mr Balan, Minister of the Interior at the time, of criminal activity. Although the Security and Information Service publicly stated that it had never sent such a document and the President’s Office confirmed that it had not received it, the Supreme Court rejected Mr Balan’s claims against Mr Usatîi, finding that the leader of the opposition party was entitled to the protection of freedom of expression under both national law and the Convention.

• Press release
• Factsheet: protection of reputation