European human rights court finds Moldova failed to properly investigate attack on LGBT march

On 29 October 2026, the European Court of Human Rights issued a final judgment on a complaint by the Moldovan LGBT organisation Genderdoc-M. The court unanimously found that Moldova had violated the prohibition of discrimination in conjunction with freedom of assembly by failing to effectively investigate an attack on participants in a march in Chișinău on 17 May 2014.

Genderdoc-M organised a march called “A Year Without Discrimination” to mark the International Day Against Homophobia. Several dozen opponents shouted insults and threatened participants. An Orthodox priest snatched a rainbow flag from an organiser and tore it. Witnesses said he struck several participants. Another opponent took a banner and blocked the procession’s path. The march then continued.

The court found that prosecutors had failed to properly examine a possible homophobic motive or seek video footage that could help establish whether violence had been used. As 2EU.Brussels reported, prosecutors closed the criminal investigation after treating the actions of the two suspects as administrative offences. By then, the three-month period for imposing an administrative penalty had expired. The court dismissed the government’s argument that Genderdoc-M did not have victim status. The opponents’ actions had prevented the organisation from holding the march as planned.

Moldova must pay Genderdoc-M €4,500 in non-pecuniary damages and €1,274 in legal costs. The organisation welcomed the ruling. According to the Moldovan outlet NewsMaker, Genderdoc-M director Angelica Frolov criticised the prosecution’s handling of the case and said the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers would oversee implementation of the judgment.