Earlier, we reported that the General Director of the Cherkasy TV channel Vikka, Serhiy Kuzlyaev, was outraged that the hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Luke of Zaporizhzhia and Melitopol, had filed a lawsuit against the media for spreading false information about the bishop on one of their TV programs. Kuzlyaev is annoyed that the UOC hierarch is “raising his head” in an attempt to defend his honor and dignity in court.
Court dismisses UOC hierarch's lawsuit against Vikka TV channel and Cherkasy mayor
The Prydniprovsky District Court of Cherkasy dismissed the lawsuit filed by the hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Luke of Zaporizhzhia and Melitopol, against the Cherkasy TV channel Vikka and Cherkasy Mayor Anatoliy Bondarenko. Metropolitan Luke sued the mayor and the TV channel for spreading slander against him. This was reported by the Institute of Mass Information.
“It was an interview with Bondarenko about everything related to the Moscow Patriarchate. In the context of the grounds for the negative attitude, Bondarenko referred to the “memories” with the warning “so that I do not make a mistake.” The defendants argued that this statement was taken out of context, and in the form presented by the plaintiff, it cannot be the subject of the investigation. The plaintiff also noted in the debate that he was a public figure and that the video had caused him significant moral damage. Our argument is that if he is a public figure, then he has different requirements — he must endure public discussions. Will there be an appeal? It’s hard to predict. The game may not be worth the money that the losing party has to pay for the legal assistance of the winning lawyers. This is a novelty of our time that should be taken into account,” — said Valeriy Makeev, a lawyer at VIKKA TV channel.
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