Court ruled to refute report on far-right organization C14

The Commercial court of Kyiv upheld the claim of the C14 NGO against Hromadske television and ruled to refute the information by publishing the court decision, the Hromadske reported. C14 sued Hromadske due to the publication describing the organization as "neo-Nazi". The judge of the court Yulia Kartavtseva noted that the information disseminated by Hromadske “damages the reputation” of C14 and obliged the journalists to refute the information and to collect 3.5 thousand UAH ($136) of court fee in favor of C14. Hromadske is going to appeal this decision. "The decision is wrong and unlawful; it introduces a blatant tendency that suppresses the freedom of speech. We will appeal against it, ”said lawyer of Hromadske Oksana Tchaikovska. “We are surprised by this decision and it is not only contrary to judicial logic but also a dangerous precedent for other media and for freedom of speech in general. Hromadske assumes its responsibility for its materials, citing laws, expert opinions and established practice, so, of course, we will appeal against this decision in all instances, we are convinced of our correctness and professionalism ”, the editor-in-chief of Angelina Karyakina commented on. C14 declined to comment on the court's ruling as to Hromadske. “The C14 standpoint is that they are not a neo-Nazi group, viewing their activities, nature of their activities. They are a nationalist group, but they are by no means neo-Nazi, ” C14 lawyer Victor Moroz said during previous court sittings. According to him, how Hromadske qualified the organization , this is damaging the business reputation of C14. Hromadske television argued that they did not admit any wrongdoing, characterizing the organization as "neo-Nazi". One should recall that in July 2018, C14 sued Hromadske television "for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation". The litigation was caused by twit on English-language Hromadske’s page. In the twit dated of May 4, 2018, when C14 forces brought by force Brazilian guerilla Rafael Lusvargi to the SBU, the organization was described as "neo-Nazi".