In Volgodonsk, local deputy loses his lawsuit to "Nashe Vremya" newspaper

Alexander Prutsakov, deputy chairman of the Volgodonsk City Duma, who filed late last year a lawsuit against the newspaper "Nashe Vremya" (Our Time) and its own correspondent in Volgodonsk Natalia Shelimova, has lost the litigation. As reported by Vera Yuzhanskaya, editor of the paper, the judge rejected the deputy's claim in full.

As reported earlier by the "Caucasian Knot", the deputy believed that the article published in the paper of March 4, 2010, entitled "Volgodonsk. 'Olympus' Celestial Resident", defamed his honour and dignity, while its author, that is, the above journalist, had broken his constitutional rights. Mr Prutsakov declared that the paper had disseminated false information about him, when treating him as a member of a criminal grouping. He asked the court to oblige the regional newspaper to refute this information.

During the trial the claimant and his representatives opposed consideration by the court of the forensic linguistic examination conducted by the Rostov-based regional centre "Law and Mass Media".

"I'm having doubts about the impartiality of the experts. They gathered documents and information on their own initiative, which is illegitimate and casts doubt on their impartiality. Experts are trying to mislead the court," said Prutsakov.

He moved a petition to the judge asking to challenge the examination. However, Judge Motchenko rejected the challenge and attached the examination materials of the "Law and Mass Media" Centre to the case files.

The Judge referred in her statement of reasons to Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which stipulates that "the freedom of expression applies not only to 'information' and 'opinions' perceived positively, not abusing or viewed as something neutral, but on the offensive, shocking and worrisome ones. The above is a requirement of pluralism, tolerance and liberalism, specific for any democratic society."

The court also concluded that the journalist should not bear the burden of proof of the facts presented by her in the publication, as this could lead to restriction of a socially important political debate.

Mr Prutsakov intends to appeal against the decision of the District court of Volgodonsk at the cassation instance.

Journalist Natalia Shelimova believes that such decision for the Volgodonsk District court is a real breakthrough. "In this case, the court has affirmed the right of journalists to disseminate socially significant information. However, there is still a cassation instance ahead. Let's wait and see what it would say," she said to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Let us also note here that the Prosecutor's Office of the Rostov Region has opened a criminal case on the facts of insults and death threats addressed to Natalia Shelimova. The investigation has recognized that the journalist was persecuted for her professional activities. She told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that, in her opinion, Prutsakov was involved in organizing her persecution.

When asked about the criminal case and the journalist's suspicions, Alexander Prutsakov said that "he did not specifically followed such events" and would not comment anything.