Brest freelance journalist complains to President of Supreme Court
Milana Kharytonava, press photographer of the Brestskiy Kurier independent newspaper.
Press photographer Milana Kharytonava is appealing an earlier judgment of the court of first instance and a decision of the Civil Division of the Brest Regional Court in the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation.
On March 20, Maskouski District Court of Brest dismissed Milana Kharytonava’s lawsuit, which she filed against Uladzimir Minevich, correspondent of the state newspaper Brestskiy Vestnik, who posted offensive comments against the independent journalist on one of the local Internet portals. The reasons for rejecting the claim were the findings of a linguistic examination, which showed that there was no abuse in the words of the pro-government reporter: though he expressed a negative opinion, but enjoyed his constitutional rights. Later, the Civil Division of the Brest Regional Court in its ruling of May 6 dismissed the journalist’s appeal.
In her complaint to the President of the Supreme Court of Belarus, the freelance journalist calls the courts’ decisions illegal and unjustified, urging the high judicial official to investigate the case again, protest the previous findings and order a new trial.
