Categories: INVESTIGATIONS

The court ordered hromadske.ua to remove its investigation about Andriy Portnov

The Kyiv Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the Pechersk District Court, which granted the lawsuit filed by Andriy Portnov, the former deputy head of Yanukovych’s administration, against the outlet. hromadske has been ordered to retract the information from the investigation titled “How Crimea was seized: exclusive recordings” and to remove the materials from YouTube, its website, and social media platforms.

What was in the investigation?

hromadske had obtained audio recordings of phone conversations between Portnov and former Ukrainian officials. These recordings suggested that Portnov and his interlocutors were, in one way or another, involved in processes that accompanied Russia’s occupation of Crimea.

Portnov’s lawyer argued that there is allegedly no evidence confirming Portnov’s illegal actions and noted that no criminal cases have been opened against him.

“I did not claim that Portnov is a collaborator, traitor, or pro-Russian figure. I only raised the question: can we call him that? I did this primarily to highlight the absurdity of the Pechersk District Court’s decision, which, in a case against the Anti-Corruption Action Center, sided with Portnov and prohibited the use of such terms to describe him,” said the investigation’s author, Yaroslava Volvach.

The journalist believes that Portnov’s lawyer “deliberately omitted” the words “likely” and “according to our information” from the disputed quotes in the investigation to present subjective opinions as definitive statements.

“As for the key issue that Portnov avoids addressing in his lawsuit, it is the recordings that indicate his possible involvement in processes related to Crimea’s occupation. This matter should be investigated by law enforcement agencies,” the investigative journalist stated.

Currently, hromadske is preparing a cassation appeal to the Supreme Court.

The Institute of Mass Information