Presshub has reported with facts and data the case of a citizen whose wives, two of three, died suddenly in as yet unsolved circumstances. His name is Beniamin Lup and he heads the WorldTeach Association for the prevention of trafficking in women, as well as the Butterfly Center in the village of Zolt, Fârdea commune, which is supposed to function as a shelter for people rescued from human trafficking. Two investigations are ongoing both in Romania into the death in 2016 of the first wife, Eugenia Lup, who died at the age of 42, and in the Republic of Moldova into the death in Chisinau of the third wife, Rodica Gutan, who was 45. The article can be read here.
The main funder of the association and the center is the American organization UNCAGED, which provided us with a statement signed by Kim Westfall, founder and CEO:
”Uncaged has suspended all activities in Romania and has ceased all support of Beniamin Lup. We are actively cooperating with local and international authorities in all investigations and are committed to ensuring that justice is served for all victims affected by this situation. Our priority remains the protection and empowerment of survivors, and we will continue to stand against exploitation in all its forms”.
We have also received, courtesy of a US-based collaborator, the information that Walk Thru the Bible in Atlanta is also withdrawing from operations in support of the entities led by Benjamin Lup. The reasons for these withdrawals are, on the one hand, the files opened in the two countries and, on the other hand, the suspicion of financial irregularities investigated by UNCAGED.
The case has attracted media interest. Some publications have picked up our articles, others have done their own journalistic investigations.
In November 2024, Beniamin Lup sued the Freedom House Foundation, which manages the Presshub portal, and separately one of the authors of the published articles, and also Ziarul de Iași, Libertatea through Ringier Romania, Click through Adevărul Holding, Sursa de Vest, and one of the witnesses quoted in the articles. In reality, there are many more publications that have written, some of them very corrosively, about the case of the deceased wives, and the criteria for selecting the publications sued are incomprehensible for us.
Two lawsuits have been pending before the Bucharest Court: one by Presidential Order for the immediate deletion of the articles from the websites and to temporary refrain from publishing any future articles on the same subject (File 42400/3/2024), and another on the merits, an action for tort liability (File 42396/3/2024), where it is alleged that the journalists intended to damage the image and reputation of the plaintiff. In this case, they are jointly and severally claiming €1,000,000 in moral damages.
This is not the first time Beniamin Lup is suing Presshub. In 2022 an investigation published here revealed that, despite generous funding of millions of dollars and the purchase of a former rural guesthouse converted into the Butterfly Center, the conditions for a shelter for victims were still not met at that time. The lawsuit seeking €500,000 in moral damages was lost by Beniamin Lup and WorldTeach at first instance, with costs awarded to Freedom House. The investigation can be read here
In the present actions, Mr. Lup is seeking a finding of unlawful conduct, i.e. the published texts, the removal of the articles from the websites and huge moral damages „as a result of the damage to his image, reputation, dignity, professional probity and credibility”.
In Case 42400/3/2024, a fast-track procedure is requested to remove all the articles concerned in the complaint before the merits are heard. The Presidential Order procedure is used when there is serious prejudice. The court was not presented with the degree of urgency and seriousness of the prejudices, nor was it presented with the specific elements of each individual article that would damage its image and reputation.
Beniamin Lup lost the case definitively in the Bucharest Court and has to pay several tens of thousands of RON in legal costs to the defendants.
How we defended ourselves: we pointed out that we had brought to the public’s attention through our articles an unusual situation described with the help of documents, witnesses, and concrete data obtained, so that the public could make an informed decision for themselves. The case is of public interest because Beniamin Lup is involved in anti-trafficking, a delicate area, as he himself describes in the complaint. We emphasize that the journalists who wrote about the two bizarre deaths, including us, do not know Mr. Lup personally and had no reason to intend what he considers to be his denigration. Besides, Presshub has published his right of reply, also full of inaccuracies.
It is important to note that the claim for an excessive amount as moral damages falls within the description of vexatious legal actions against journalists who express themselves critically in the public interest (SLAPPs) defined in EU Directive 2024/1069, which is due to be implemented in Romania by May 7, 2026. According to our information, the Ministry of Justice is working on legislative amendments that will make the procedures in cases against journalists and activists easier and shorter. Many such lawsuits are intended to intimidate and silence critical voices by harassing journalists.
Beniamin Lup is using TikTok to send alluzive public threats to those he suspects to be involved in press investigations or official inquiries. This is yet another indicator of SLAPPs actions to watch out for.
