Kyiv's Podisky District Court has ruled in favor of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, who claimed Petro Poroshenko Bloc (PPB) deputy Serhiy Leshchenko spread inaccurate information about him referenced in a report by Germany's public broadcaster Deutsche Welle. "Information provided by Leshchenko to Deutsche Welle that he was followed by Interior Ministry agents is untrue. Every lie will be refuted!" Avakov said on his Twitter page following the ruling on June 13. The court verdict said Leshchenko's information published by Deutsche Welle about Avakov's efforts to gather information on the deputy in order to discredit him in the future is untrue and damages the reputation of the minister and the Interior Ministry. The court obliged Leshchenko to refute the information. In addition, Leshchenko is obliged to pay court costs amounting to UAH 551.21 to Avakov and UAH 1,102.4 to the Interior Ministry. The ruling can be appealed within 10 days after publication of the verdict.

Решение суда: информация С.Лещенко на Deutsche Welle о слежке со стороны МВД является лживой. Каждая ложь этого деятеля будет иметь оценку! pic.twitter.com/1evl0FhYHC

— Arsen Avakov (@AvakovArsen) 13 июня 2017 г.

As earlier reported, in November 2015 Leshchenko in an interview published by Deutsche Welle said Avakov and People's Front Party deputy Mykola Martynenko, both of whom were implicated in reports of impropriety, joined forces to discredit him. Avakov said the assertion was a lie and filed a court complaint.