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 The Moldovan government was forced to pay damages in the amount of 7,680 euros to a pensioner from Glodeni, who was forcibly placed in the Psychiatric Hospital following the incident of May 2014, when he had slapped across the face Valentina Buliga, ex-minister of Labor, Social Protection and Family.

On Tuesday, 4 September 2018, the European Court of Human Rights headquartered in Strasbourg issued a judgment finding that there had been a violation of Article 5 par. 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights with regard to the pensioner. The ECtHR obliged the Republic of Moldova to pay the applicant 6,000 euros as moral damages and 1,680 euros as costs and expenses (see the judgment here).

Mihail Dogotari is a 76-year-old pensioner, who slapped across the face Valentina Buliga, the former Minister of Labor, Social Protection and Family. The incident took place in May 2014, when the former minister Valentina Buliga had a meeting with residents of Glodeni district. Being dissatisfied with the National Social Insurance House, which calculated a lower retirement pay than he was due to receive (about 58 euros) Mihail Dogotari, a former engineer, approached Valentina Buliga at the end of the meeting. After the meeting, he asked the Minister about the method of calculating his retirement pay. He claimed that the coefficient used to calculate his retirement pay was wrong and that his pension was too low. The Minister replied that his retirement pay was large enough and questioned, ironically, whether the applicant really understood the meaning of the words used in his question. Hearing the answer, the applicant flew into a rage and slapped the Minister across the face.

After the incident, a criminal case for hooliganism was initiated with regard to the pensioner. On 2 July 2014, at the request of the prosecutor, the Glodeni District Court ordered an in-patient psychiatric examination of the applicant. On 18 September 2014, the applicant was arrested by a group of five police officers and taken to the Chisinau Psychiatric Hospital, where he was held for more than 7 days.

In February 2015, the applicant lodged a complaint with the High Court in Strasbourg, alleging that he had been violated the right to liberty and security granted under Article 5 of the ECHR.

The ECtHR considered that the applicant’s detention in the psychiatric hospital was inconsistent with the provisions of Art. 5 of the Convention and ordered the payment of moral damages and costs to the applicant.

For more details, please contact:
Alexandru Postica, Director of the Human Rights Program,
GSM: 069 104 851
Tel/Fax (+373 22) 450024
E-mail: [email protected]