Case Study - SLAPP in Romania

This document provides an overview of the SLAPP phenomenon in Romania - common causes of action, prominent cases and their outcome.

One group of cases is examined in detail - the criminal and civil proceedings initiated by politician Daniel Băluță, a politician, the mayor of Bucharest’s 4th district and the president of the local structure of the Social Democratic Party in the same district.

Băluță was first elected mayor in 2016 and re-elected in 2020 for another four years. The target of the proceedings initiated by the mayor is a national newspaper, Libertatea, its editorial coordinator, Cătălin Tolontan, and several journalists of the same publication. At issue were a series of articles published by Libertatea in 2020 and 2021.

As of January 2023, these proceedings are still ongoing. In 2020-2021, Daniel Băluță filed several civil claims or discrimination complaints against other individuals or entities, including journalists of Newsweek, local political opponents and an environmental NGO and its representative. However in none of these cases has the number of claims or the intensity of harassment come near those directed against Libertatea and Cătălin Tolontan.