15:59 12.05.2021

First lawsuit on behalf of Poroshenko to be filed against Gordon for libel soon – lawyer Novikov

2 min read
First lawsuit on behalf of Poroshenko to be filed against Gordon for libel soon – lawyer Novikov

Lawyers of fifth president of Ukraine, leader of the European Solidarity party Petro Poroshenko, will soon file the first libel suit against Dmytro Gordon, lawyer Ilia Novikov has said.

"On May 7 this year, on the Freedom of Speech [Svoboda Slova] talk show, famous journalist Dmytro Gordon said some words that should have consequences. It was he who stated that fifth President of Ukraine Poroshenko 'entered into a criminal conspiracy with Putin and ordered the Ukrainian army to leave Mariupol as part of this criminal deal,'" Novikov said, according to the European Solidarity press service.

He noted that no one would appeal against Gordon's right to criticize Poroshenko's policies, but "we are talking about abuse of freedom of speech." The lawyer noted that defamation, even if it is accompanied by the words "I think," "this is my opinion," and then followed not by an opinion, but a statement, does not enjoy immunity.

"We announce that in the near future, in the coming days, as soon as all the necessary formalities are completed, the first such claim will be submitted on behalf of Petro Poroshenko to Gordon, demanding that the dissemination of this statement be declared unreliable," Novikov said.

"Dmytro Gordon will have the opportunity to speak out on this matter. If he believes that this is still an opinion, and not a statement, he can say about it – that he does not know about it reliably, but he thinks so. He will have the opportunity to report, what evidence he has, if any. I think he doesn't. One way or another, it will be possible to give an explanation not in the format of a talk show, which does not oblige much to anything, but in the format of a formalized judicial procedure. It was a long time coming, and obviously this moment has come," Novikov said.

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