Human rights activist: Court consideration of claims for protection of honor and dignity against ARMA head may be delayed due to judges' fear of losing their positions

In Ukraine, there is no established practice that would give citizens confidence that if they file a lawsuit to protect their honor, dignity and business reputation against officials, the court will make a fair decision. This is because judges are afraid of losing their positions if they rule against the government. Therefore, such a trial may be delayed.  This opinion was expressed by human rights activist Eduard Bagirov in an exclusive comment to UNN.

Context

Viktor Polishchuk , a Ukrainian businessman, owner of the Gulliver shopping and entertainment and business center , filed a lawsuit with the Shevchenkivskyi District Court against the ARMA to protect his honor, dignity and business reputation. In a commentary to UNN, the businessman explainedthat he was forced to go to court because of Elena Duma's statement that he and his wife had "close relations with the Kremlin elite." Polishchuk emphasized that this information was fictitious and untrue.

In response to a request from UNN , ARMA head Olena Duma explainedthat she accused Polishchuk and his wife of having ties to the "Kremlin elite" because she saw such information in the media.

The court will consider Polischuk's lawsuit against the ARMA on October 10.

If a person sues a government official, it is automatically assumed that he or she is suing the political force that is currently in power. This should be taken into account. There are judges in the Ukrainian judicial system who make fair decisions, but they are very few. Most judges understand that if they make a decision not in favor of a government official, that judge may be deprived of his or her robe. Therefore, they try to either delay or issue decisions that give rise to an appeal or cassation appeal in various ways

He added that in Ukraine, unfortunately, there is no established practice where a citizen of Ukraine, if he is not satisfied with the decision or activity of an official, can be sure that the judicial system and the Constitution of Ukraine will protect his rights as a citizen of Ukraine and the court will make a fair decision. 

"It's the same in cases of defense of honor and dignity. And this does not concern the status of the plaintiff - whether he is a citizen, a student or a businessman," Bagirov said.

Add

After researching the topic, we found out that the information that Viktor Polishchuk's wife, Lilia Rizva, is allegedly the niece of the wife of Russian politician Dmitry Medvedev, appeared in 2015-2016. It was spread by the then current MP Pavlo Rizanenko in his blogs, but he never provided evidence of this information. UNN asked Rizanenko to provide documents that would confirm his assumptions, but he refused to comment, citing the fact that he has not been a public figure since 2019.