Lawyer Andriy Portnov won lawsuits against several Ukrainian media outlets and the ‘Anti-Corruption Action Center’

The Kyiv Court of Appeal has upheld a decision requiring the “Anti-Corruption Action Center” led by Vitaliy Shabunin, as well as the publications “Ukrainska Pravda” and “Focus”, to retract information regarding the “pro-Russian” activities of lawyer Andriy Portnov.

This ruling follows an attempt by the defendants to appeal the decision of the Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv.

Previously, the Pecherskyi District Court ruled that the Anti-Corruption Action Center and the two media outlets must retract false information about Portnov and pay him 40,000 hryvnias each (less than 1,000 euros). The appeal court left this verdict unchanged.

The issue centered on a blog titled “Collaborators, Traitors and Russian Accomplices,” which the Anti-Corruption Action Center had posted on “Ukrainska Pravda” and “Focus” last summer. The Pecherskyi District Court found the blog to be false and defamatory to Portnov’s business reputation. Specifically, the court ruled that the claims of Portnov’s “pro-Russian” and “anti-Ukrainian” activities were unfounded.

Earlier this year, lawyer Andriy Portnov won similar cases against the publication “Business.Censor,” “Public Television,” and the channel “Pryamyi,” which had quoted former President Poroshenko’s statements about Portnov.