A Nikolaev activist is required to pay 127,000 UAH in a case concerning the protection of honor, dignity, and business reputation.

A Nikolaev activist is required to pay 127,000 UAH in a case concerning the protection of honor, dignity, and business reputation.

The appellate court upheld the decision of the Central District Court of Nikolaev regarding the refutation of false information disseminated by the public activist.

This information is reported by the press service of the Central District Court.

It was noted that Judge Olga Gudенко of the Central District Court of Nikolaev reviewed a lawsuit filed by a resident of Odessa against Denis Zh., who positions himself as a public activist, regarding the protection of honor, dignity, and business reputation.

The plaintiff stated that Denis Zh. posted on his social media pages on Telegram and Facebook accusations of corruption, illegal appointment to office, smuggling of prohibited goods, pressure, and “protection” of businesses.

The plaintiff requested that the aforementioned information be declared false and that the defendant be obliged to refute it.

“The court, after analyzing the pages where the messages were published, established that they were indeed disseminated by the defendant. The messages negatively characterize the plaintiff's activities, which is confirmed, in particular, by the findings of the linguistic examination.

The court determined that the disseminated information pertains to certain facts, contains details about specific life circumstances, is not an evaluative judgment, but rather a factual assertion regarding alleged criminal offenses. The defendant, at the same time, did not prove the veracity of the information regarding the plaintiff’s alleged criminal actions.

The court found that the contested information is not true, does not express personal opinions, as it is presented in an affirmative manner, as if it were reliably known, without indicating that it is a personal opinion or judgment; it was conveyed to a wide audience with a specific accusatory bias, and its content is aimed at creating a negative impression of the plaintiff's character.

Considering this, the court ruled to satisfy the claim, recognize the information published by the defendant as false, and obligate Denis Zh. to refute it by disseminating a corresponding message on the platforms where it was originally published,” – the statement reads.

In addition, the plaintiff's representative submitted a request to the court for the recovery of legal expenses and the cost of conducting the examination from Denis Zh.

This request was granted by the court, which ordered the defendant to pay a total of 127,681.92 UAH for the specified expenses.

The defendant's representative filed an appeal against these court decisions. The appellate court left the appeal unsatisfied and the decision of the Central District Court of Nikolaev unchanged.

As it was found out by “Novosti-N”, this concerns the well-known Nikolaev activist Denis Zhelo. The plaintiff against him was Sergey Muntyan, who has held the position of head of the territorial office of the Bureau of Economic Security in the Odessa region since 2022.