“He called the appeal of the media movement a “denunciation” and stated that its authors “have no moral right to public activity during the war.””, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
The initiators of Mediarukh’s statement pointed, in particular, to numerous journalistic investigations that testified to the possible continued influence of Portnov on the judicial system of Ukraine and demanded to conduct a review of judicial decisions in favor of the expositor for compliance with standards of justice and judicial ethics.
According to Portnov, the public is putting pressure on the NSDC and the state leadership “to further accuse them of inaction.” He believes that his activity does not contain the grounds for the introduction of sanctions provided for in the law.
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The former official emphasizes that he has not worked in public service for the past 11 years and “applies to the reformed judicial system, not the court that existed 11 years ago.”
“In all court proceedings with me, absolutely all defendants and signatories of this Statement took an active procedural position, but never once did they object to any member of the court. Also, none of the defendants appealed to the High Council of Justice with complaints about judges. That is, they fully trusted the judges of all instances at all stages and in all processes over the past three years, and they came to the conclusion about the influence after their defeat,” says Portnov.
Portnov also emphasized that he has not been engaged in public activities since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022. He called the appeal of the media movement a “denunciation” and stated that its authors, if they are not military, “have no moral right to public activity during the war.”
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In December 2024, Mediarukh, media and public organizations called on the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, to submit to the NSDC for consideration proposals for the introduction of sanctions against Andriy Portnov.
The petition was not published on the president’s website, and on December 24, the head of the hromadske investigation department and representative of the Media Office, Yaroslava Volvach, submitted such a petition for consideration by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. As of January 8, the petition has received more than 21,000 votes out of the 25,000 required.
Andriy Portnov is suing Yaroslava Volvach because of the investigation about him, as well as a number of other Ukrainian journalists.
In September 2024, the Kyiv Court of Appeal rejected the complaint of Nataliya Sedletska, head of Radio Liberty’s Kyiv bureau and the “Scheme” journalistic investigation project, in the case of protecting the honor, dignity, and reputation of Andriy Portnov, and upheld the decision of the Pechersk Court in his favor.
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Andrii Portnov, a former official from the time of Viktor Yanukovych, who is currently under US sanctions and has left Ukraine, filed a lawsuit against journalist Sedletska and a number of other media outlets in the fall of 2020 due to her Facebook post published on August 17, 2020, the day the editorial car was set on fire. Scheme”. In the post, Sedletska mentioned Portnov’s negative attitude towards the editorial office, in particular, the fact that he made public the personal data of the driver, including his residential address and license plates of the eventually burned car, and on the eve of the arson, he publicly threatened the investigative editorial office with “educational measures.”
The defense of Natalia Sedletska filed a cassation appeal against the decision of the Kyiv Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has opened proceedings in this case, the hearing date has not yet been set.
Since December 2021, Andriy Portnov is under US sanctions due to his influence on the courts.
According to “Scheme”, Portnov left Ukraine in June 2022. Journalists established that the Portnov family owns real estate in Moscow together with friends of the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergei Lavrov, and also showed Portnov’s secret fortress near Kyiv.