Court passess additional ruling in Khmelnytsky official's lawsuit against VSIM.UA

The Khmelnytsky District Court passed an additional ruling on June 13, 2024, in the lawsuit filed by the Khmelnytsky Deputy Mayor, Vasyl Novachok, against the media outlet Vsim.ua.

The court satisfied the plaintiff's claim for moral damages compensation in part and ruled to charge the media outlet 20,000 hryvnias in legal fees and over 2,200 hryvnias for trial expenses.

This is made evident by the court rulings register, where the full ruling was posted on June 19. Vasyl Novachok appealed to the court with a demand to collect 20 thousand hryvnias from the defendant in legal fees and 39 thousand hryvnias for an expert conclusion and trial expenses.

The plaintiff substantiated the legal fees sum with a contract dated December 22, 2023, a deed dated May 29, 2024, and a payment instruction for 20,000 hryvnias. The trial expenses were confirmed by receipts for 1,073 hryvnias (twice) and 7,500 hryvnias. However, the court refused to reimburse the 39,000 hryvnias for the expert conclusion, as it was a recommendation only.

In late May, the court part of the lawsuit filed by Vasyl Novachok, ruling that the information in the Vsim.ua article was misleading and violated his rights. The court ordered the media outlet to take down the article, retract the reported information and formally apologize, as well as to pay the plaintiff 5 thousand hryvnias in moral damages.

The judgement and the additional ruling can be appealed within thirty days from the day of their announcement.