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The Shevchenkivskyi District Court fully denied the claims of LLC “BRSM-NAFTA” and LLC “Euro Smart Power,” which had sued Bihus.Info journalists regarding the investigation into the shadow financing of the “Shariy Party.”
Last fall LLC “BRSM Nafta” and LLC “Euro Smart Power” filed a lawsuit against Denys Bihus, Anastasia Usenko, and Lesia Ivanova, demanding a refutation of allegedly untrue information in the investigation “Shariy: dirty cash, paid experts, and secret sponsors (party correspondence).”
As a reminder, Bihus.Info journalists reported on the questionable funding system of the political party of blogger Anatoliy Shariy. Thus, the editors obtained a number of internal Telegram chats of the party, where, among other things, “Shariy supporters” discussed money inflows and expenditures. According to the exchanges, the lion’s share of money for party needs was processed unofficially—in cash and transfers to personal bank cards—and accordingly was not reflected in the party’s official financial report. In the Telegram chats, the Shariy team’s finances were managed by a person named Angela Vasylivna Larkina. She not only gave final approval for various expenditures, but, judging by the exchanges of the “Shariy supporters,” also provided funds to meet various party needs: from paying unofficial salaries to activists in party offices, to paying for office rent, merch, party newspaper, and more. Journalists identified Larkina as a top manager of the BRSM group of companies, since she is/was the head of many companies within the group of firms owned by the BRSM gas stations network owner.
LLC “BRSM Nafta” and LLC “Euro Smart Power” demanded to refute only three fragments of the story (regarding the group’s involvement and Larkina’s role in secret financing of the “Shariy Party”), but also asked the court to force journalists to delete the entire plot. They also sought to recover lost profits 305 000 UAH (allegedly after the story, LLC “BRSM Nafta” did not want to sign a contract) and 200 000 UAH in moral damages.
The journalists provided the court with copies of the exchanges, an assessment confirming their authenticity, evidence of the relationships between the plaintiff and Larkina, etc.
The court denied the plaintiffs’ claims in full.
Legal support in this case was provided by Bihus.Info attorney Maria Muzychka and Platform for Human Rights lawyers Oleksandr Burmahyn and Yevhen Vorobyev.
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