“The Yanukovych-era expositor filed a lawsuit against journalist Sedletska and a number of other media because of her Facebook post published on the day the Schem editorial car was set on fire”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
Andriy 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 the license plates of the car that was eventually burned, and on the eve of the arson, he publicly threatened the investigative editorial office with “educational measures.”
The full text of the court decision with arguments has not yet been made public.
After the publication, Natalia Sedletska’s defense will file a cassation appeal against the decision of the Kyiv Court of Appeal in favor of Andriy Portnov to the Supreme Court.
“On the one hand, we have Portnov’s mass lawsuits against the media and their satisfaction by the courts. On the other hand, there is a lack of investigation into crimes against journalists and a lack of fair investigation and punishment for those who attack or threaten journalists. The state should ensure the fulfillment of its duties – to investigate crimes against journalists and ensure a fair trial, taking into account the right of journalists to publicize socially important facts and assessments of important events. But this is not happening. We will appeal this court decision, hoping that the Court of Cassation will be able to correct the mistake at the national level,” said Sedletska’s lawyer Oksana Maksymeniuk.
She added that Sedletska’s post was related to an unusual event – the burning of an editorial car, and it happened shortly after Andrii Portnov threatened the editorial office and shared personal information about the drivers and cars of “Schem” in his Telegram channel. According to Maksymeniuk, it was quite natural that Sedletska in her post reported on the circumstances that preceded the arson and made certain assumptions, clearly outlining that this is only one version and it is not the only one. However, the court of first instance, whose decision was upheld by the appeals court, obliged Sedletska to refute the facts that were based on evidence and were not disputed by Portnov in the statement of claim (in particular, the fact about the car being set on fire, the car belonging to Boris Mazur, about Portnov’s threats to the editorial office and the discovery criminal proceedings based on these facts).
“From a legal point of view, Portnov’s massive lawsuits against all the media that criticize him look like SLAPPs – strategic lawsuits against public participation, because they are aimed at preventing journalists from writing or writing less about Portnov and his influence,” the media draws attention – lawyer Lyudmila Pankratova.
“Such lawsuits seriously threaten freedom of speech, as they cause a ‘chilling effect’ on journalists and the media. This appears to be particularly dangerous in times of war, because journalists investigate both corruption offenses and war crimes, and citizens have a right to receive such information. Silencing information about such public figures as Portnov deprives society of this information. Such signals from the authorities cannot be ignored – it is necessary to inform about the danger to journalists and freedom of speech,” said media lawyer Lyudmila Pankratova.
In April 2023, Portnov’s lawsuit was satisfied by the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv, whose decision was announced by presiding judge Oleksiy Sokolov. Then the court obliged Natalia Sedletska to refute the information spread in the post by publishing the decision of the Pechersk Court on her Facebook page. According to the court’s decision, Hromadske, NV, Kanal 5 and Pryamy, which reprinted the journalist’s post, should do the same.
Sedletska’s defense did not agree with the decision of the Pechersk Court and filed an appeal. This decision will take effect after the publication of the full text by the Kyiv Court of Appeals, but the Court of Cassation may overturn it in the future.
The consideration of the case in the first instance lasted 2.5 years, during this period only three hearings took place. In connection with this, the defense of “Scheme” appealed to Judge Sokolov for delaying the proceedings, but this request was not granted.
The burned out car of the “Scheme” editorial office
On November 1, 2019, ex-deputy and official during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych Andriy Portnov published in his Telegram channel the personal data of the drivers of the “Scheme” film crew, who helped the then journalist of the program Mykhailo Tkach in the preparation of an investigation into the influence and possible connections of the former official with the Ukrainian authorities .
Among the published information is protected by law: full passport data and home address of the drivers, car numbers, as well as data indicating the tracking of the place of residence.
Subsequently, Andriy Portnov threatened the entire editorial staff of “Scheme” with the publication of “their personal and personal information”, as well as “analysis of private life and unobtrusive escort in the dark hours of the day”. He also did not rule out possible monitoring of members of the “Scheme” editorial board. At the same time, the former official stated that he is also a journalist.
“Scheme” lawyers have filed civil lawsuits – with a demand to withdraw the personal data of drivers of the “Scheme” program and to collect moral damages.
In this case, the Pechersk and Kyiv Courts of Appeal sided with Andriy Portnov and refused to satisfy the claim of representatives of “Schemes”. However, on June 22, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned the decision of the Pechersk and Kyiv Courts of Appeal, which were in favor of Portnov in the case of the disclosure of personal data of the “Scheme” driver, and referred the case to the court of first instance for a new hearing.
On August 17, 2020, the Schem car, which belonged to the driver Boris Mazur, was set on fire. On August 26 of that year, the police detained and announced suspicion of arson to the performer Kyryl Barikhashvili. Later, the Brovarsky City District Court of the Kyiv Region closed the case due to violation of the terms of the pre-trial investigation, but the Court of Appeal of Kyiv overturned the closure of the case and returned it to the Brovarsky City District Court for a new trial. Subsequently, separate proceedings were initiated in the Brovarsk City and District Court against two other arson defendants – co-perpetrators Yury Protsenko and Dmytro Obodovsky. All three cases are currently under trial.
The person who ordered the arson was never identified by the official investigation.
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. He has not responded to inquiries since February 2022.