Court of the Galitskiy district of Lviv rejected the claim on the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation of businessman Ivan Motrinets against the Lviv oblast state TV and radio company and journalist Ivan Khas

Mr. Motrinets demanded from the TV journalists the compensation equal to 1 million hryvnas for the “stained general’s coat”.

General Ivan Motrinets, the head of the juridical firm “Feniks”, turned to court in last year, approximately a month after the demonstration of the subject “A criminal at large” in the feature “Visnyk-pidsumki”. The essence of the subject was that, after the sudden release, citizen Bogdan S. (who was suspected of the attempt at the life of Petro Pisarchuk, a Lviv businessman, now an MP) met with the general. The question was put: “What connects these two people?”. That allegedly deprived Ivan Motrinets “of the possibility to live normally, to realize his plans and opportunities”. By the words of Ludmila Mayor, the first deputy of the general manager of the TV company, it was MP Pisarchuk, who told the journalists about the meeting of Mr. Motrinets with Bogdan S., and this information was fixed in the materials of the criminal case investigated by the General Prosecutor’s office. The general did not want to have legal proceedings with Pisarchuk.

The Zaliznichny district court of Lviv considers now one more claim by Ivan Motrinets: the suit against journalist Ivan Khas and the weekly “Ukraina i chas”. The magazine published the same information given by P. Pisarchuk. This time the general demanded 1.5 million hryvnas.

(«Ukraina i chas», Lviv, No. 21, 22-28 May 2003)