CHISINAU, Dec 14 (Reuters) – A court in former Soviet Moldova awarded a gay soldier 120,000 lei, or around $6,700, as compensation for ill treatment he suffered while serving in a military unit, Moldovan media reported on Thursday. The ruling was the first such judicial decision in Moldova handed down in favour of a victim of harassment on the basis of sexual orientation as the country lying between Ukraine and Romania adopts more liberal attitudes towards homosexuality. The unit in which Marin Pavlescu served and Moldova’s Defence Ministry were ordered to pay the sum for his mistreatment while he was performing his obligatory military service. Pavlescu and his lawyer, Doina Straisteanu, had sought damages totalling more than 10 times that sum – the equivalent of $84,000. The court awarded the damages on grounds that Pavlescu was denied “the right to respect and protection”.