ABY s client under the case was the leading business Media of the southern region. The Media published a critical article about the corporation s activities and their impact on the local economy.

ABY provided the following legal position: the disputable article did not contain the author opinion, since it included data from the Round Table of officials and leading agricultural enterprises. Therefore, the Media is exempt from responsibility for disseminating information from official speeches by virtue of the law.

We illustrated to the court that the article s data was not a subject of judicial protection as, substantially and semantically, it was the renditions of the Round Table s official speeches. The said speeches reflected participants subjective opinions on specific events and prospects for local development. The speeches corresponded to reality, and there was no mentioning on the professional qualities of the plaintiffs and their business reputation.

Moreover, ABY pointed out that the limitation period on requirements for the Media s publications has expired.

The case has been under consideration for 2.5 years. The results of the forensic linguistic examination confirmed that the article contained negative information.

However, on 17 November 2022, the Kushchevsky District Court decided to dismiss the defamation claim against ABY s client.

Associate Alexey Demekhin represented the interests of the client.