Supreme Court rejects appeal of Brest independent journalist

Press photographer Milana Kharytonava tried to challenge the decision of the court of Brest’s Maskouski district, which turned down her lawsuit for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation lodged against reporter of a local government-run weekly "Brestskiy Vestnik" Uladzimir Minevich. The latter posted offensive comments against the independent photojournalist on one of the Internet portals.

The trial court dismissed Kharytonava’s lawsuit, citing the fact that the defendant has the constitutional right to freedom of speech, and alleging that there were no offensive comments by him. Later this decision was upheld by the Brest Regional Court.

A response signed by the deputy chairman of the Supreme Court of Belarus Andrei Zabara says that Milana Kharytonava’s complaint against the decision of the court of Brest’s Maskouski district cannot be met, since the contested phrases "cannot be checked for compliance with reality, because they only express the defendant’s personal assessment of specific events", while the case file has not evidence of insults made by Uladzimir Minevich.