Court of Appeal takes Portnov’s side in case against head of "Radio Liberty" Sedletska
The Kyiv Court of Appeal dismissed the complaint filed by Natalia Sedletska, head of the Kyiv bureau of Radio Liberty and the "Schemes" investigative journalism project, in the case of protecting the honour, dignity and reputation of former Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Andrii Portnov, and upheld the Pechersk Court's decision in his favour.
Sedletska wrote about this on her Facebook page, Censor.NET reports.
"The Kyiv Court of Appeal sided with pro-Russian activist Andrii Portnov and confirmed that I had damaged his 'honour, dignity and reputation' when I posted on Facebook about the arson of the editorial car of our investigative project 'Schemes' (Radio Liberty)," Sedletska said.
She stressed that the post contained facts that on the eve of the car arson, Andrii Portnov had publicly threatened the "Radio Liberty" editorial office with "educational measures" in Telegram. Prior to that, he published the personal data of the editorial office driver, including the licence plate number of the car that was eventually burnt and his address, where the crime eventually took place.
"In the post, I stressed that these are just facts, and there can be many versions - because the investigative editorial team has many influential detractors. But the courts sided with Portnov. The judges of two instances decided that I should refute my post, including the facts in it," added the "Schemes" project manager.
The court decision was announced on 25 September by a three-judge panel of Anatolii Stryzheus, Liubov Polyvach and Olena Shkorina.
Sedletska promised to continue the fight and file a cassation to the Supreme Court.
What preceded it?
As a reminder, in 2019, Andrii Portnov, a former MP and official during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych, posted on his Telegram channel the personal data of the "Schemes" crew drivers who helped the programme's journalist Mykhailo Tkach in preparing an investigation into the former official's influence and possible ties with the Ukrainian authorities. Information protected by law was made public: full passport details and home addresses of the drivers, car licence plates, as well as data indicating surveillance of their residence.
Subsequently, Andrii Portnov threatened the entire "Schemes" editorial team with the publication of "their personal information", as well as "analysis of their private lives and unobtrusive escort at night". He also did not rule out possible surveillance of members of the "Schemes" editorial board. At the same time, the former official stated that he was also a journalist.
The "Schemes'" lawyers filed civil lawsuits demanding that the personal data of the "Schemes" drivers be deleted and that moral damages be recovered.
In this case, the Pechersk and Kyiv Courts of Appeal sided with Andrii Portnov and dismissed the claim of the "Schemes'" representatives. However, on 22 June 2022, the Supreme Court canceled the decisions of the Pechersk and Kyiv Appeal Courts, which were in Portnov's favour in the case of disclosure of the "Schemes" driver's personal data, and sent the case back to the first instance court for a new trial.
