“Rivne Vechirne” online edition sued for supposition

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The businessman Anatoliy Ivanytskyy filed libel suit against “Rivne Vecherne” online edition and its editor-in-chief Bohdan Slonets. This was reported by a representative of IMI in Rivne region.

The publication named Anatoliy Ivanytskyy, who is known as “Uncle Fedor”, one of the key figures behind an illegal amber mining schemes.

The police recently reported about series of searches in the case of the organization of amber mining and sales, in which he would be implicated. The press release issued by the law enforcement bodies called Anatoliy Ivanitskyy a criminal authority.

Bohdan Slonets, editor-in-chief of the “Rivne Vecherne” website, said he had written about Anatoliy Ivanytsky in November and was surprised by the lawsuit.

"I can honestly say that I was surprised by the lawsuit. We published a story about a million-worth bribes . The funds were offered to an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the position of Rivne Region Police Chief. As reported by the police, people who are involved in illegal amber mining wanted to buy that position. The identity of the main suspect became known to us from our sources in law enforcement agencies. The investigation does not reveal other suspects in this case. However, we made supposition who it might be. This assumption is written in the story. There is no specific assertion there, ”Bohdan Slonets said.

The assumption in the story was: "However, if you look closely at the photos from the searches of the apartment, you can see a man who looks like the famous Dubna businessman Anatoliy Ivanytsky."

“After the story came out, Anatoliy Ivanytsky contacted the editorial office to make his demand. After the conversation, we published his standpoint,” the editor-in-chief of Rivne Vecherne said.

The Unified Register of Court Decisions does not yet contain details of the lawsuit, and the “Rivne Vechirne” has not yet received it. It is only known that the lawsuit was filed with the Rivne City Court on November 24, to be considered by the judge Olena Pershko.