In a guide launched in the summer of 2019 by the Council of Europe 91, it is recalled that the scope of rights protected under freedom of expression, Article 10 para. (1) of the ECHR explicitly refers to three components: the freedom to hold opinions; the freedom to receive information and ideas, which includes the right to collect information and to seek information through all possible legal sources; the freedom to impart information and ideas. Freedom of opinion The People's Advocate appreciates that in 2019 the people of the Republic of Moldova were generally able to engage in political discussions, without fear of being subjected to coercion or persecution. At the same time, until June 2019, there were some reasonable fears that expressing criticism of the government or actors affiliated with the ruling party at that time could have negative consequences, particularly for the public sector.92. The reserved attitude of Moldovans to freely express their critical opinion towards the authorities is also demonstrated by the results of the Public Opinion Barometer (POB) from December 201993, according to which only about 40% (36.2% in 2018) of the respondents, to some extent, stated that they feel free to express their opinion about the country's leadership, to take to the streets and protest against the decisions taken by the country's leadership. There have also been cases of disproportionate use of law enforcement measures against protesters94, which runs counter to the right to assembly and free speech and leads to a decrease in civic activism. It should be noted that in January 2019 the ECtHR condemned our State in the case of Matasaru v. the Republic of Moldova. The Court found it contrary to freedom of expression to sanction the defendant with imprisonment for hooliganism as a result of the obscene way of protesting. 91 Guide „Links between freedom of expression and other human rights”, adopted by the Steering Committee on Human Rights (CDDH) at its 91st meeting (18–21 June 2019); file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/GUIDE%20LIBERTE%20D'EXPRESSION_EN.pdf.pdf 92 https://freedomhouse.org/country/moldova/freedomworld/2020?fbclid=IwAR1IIa1SNwtMJ1inHzWYlDAM4ju25KHPe95FjK7xDmSZ_3L72_gBVIsLgRQ 93 http://ipp.md/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/BOP-FINAL-decembrie-2019.pdf 94 Several protesters were sprayed in March 2019 with tear gas, in front of the Orhei Court, where the sentence was pronounced in the case of the DA Platform activist Gheorghe Petic. This is despite the fact that the protesters did not present any danger to public order (https://www.moldova.org/protestatari-din-fata-sediului-judecatoriei-orhei-stropiticu-gaze-lacrimogene-ce-declara-politia/) 55