Portnov sues "Chesno" Movement, demands he be removed from the traitors list

Former deputy head of the presidential administration, Andriy Portnov, is suing the "Chesno" Movement and the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP), reports the "Chesno" website.

Portnov demands that the following information be declared misleading and defamatory:

• committing treason;
• "Z-traitor";
• "henchman to the Russian officials who initiated an aggressive war on Ukraine and changes to its border";
• "criminal proceedings under Art. 111 of the Criminal Code (high treason)".

He also demands that the Andriy Portnov profile be removed from the Traitors Register run by the movement.

Portnov wants UAH 250,000 from the "Chesno" Movement and has no financial claims against the NACP.

"We expected that Portnov would sue Chesno. Over the past year, his lawyers have filed lawsuits against multiple media outlets and NGOs to deny his alleged involvement in the occupation of Crimea and ties to Russia. Portnov himself, who left abroad after the start of the war, is actively purging the Ukrainian media space and demands that all references to him as a pro-Russian politician and traitor be taken down," commented the movement's leader Vita Dumanska.

The court decided to try the case as a simplified litigation without notifying (summoning) the parties of the court hearing.

The "Chesno" movement considers this case to be socially important and insists on a general hearing with the parties being summoned.

As reported earlier, Andriy Portnov is suing hromadske for their investigation "How they mugged Crimea from us: exclusive records".

On December 13, 2023, Portnov won the lawsuit against media outlets that listed him in an article on "collaborators" and "traitors" in first instance.

The Pechersk District Court of Kyiv ordered the Anti-Corruption Action Centre, the UP and "Focus" to retract the information they previously reported about him.

The article in question was written by the Anti-Corruption Action Centre and titled "Collaborators, traitors, Russia's henchmen: whose assets Ukraine has not seized yet"; it was released by "Ukrainian Pravda" on their website. The article was reposted by "Focus" and shared by the AntAC Telegram channel.

In the lawsuit, Portnov noted that on July 24, 2023, the defendants spread "misinformation" about him by alleging that he was a "pro-Russian figure, a collaborator, a traitor, Russia's henchman who should be subject to target sanctions and have his assets confiscated according to the Law of Ukraine 'On Sanctions'".