Battle for the calf

The first court of the Novosti Special Room: Explanatory to readers

On Thursday, finally, my combat baptism took place - my text first became the subject of judicial consideration. For a journalist in Russia, this is not at all shameful. In a sense, this is even an honor. I often heard from my colleagues about their lawsuit and envied a little - no one still paid attention to my texts.

But at the end of last year it happened. The editorial office came a lawsuit from entrepreneur Vasily Vadimovich Boyko-Great-about the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation. Vasily Vadimovich demanded the publication of refutation and 5 million rubles as compensation for non -pecuniary damage.

The bottom line is this: in October 2017, I wrote a note, which was called "This is Bolshevism, robbery and robbery!"

This is a story about the struggle for a calf. 51-year-old Muscovite Alexander Norievsky, a graduate of Baumanka, decided to do agriculture and went to the Moscow Region for this. Norievsky was 24 years old, he was an idealist and believed that the country did not need missile builders (and he was after release), and people working with their hands. In one of the state farms, the chairman allocated an abandoned calf to the guy - on the condition that he himself would restore him. Norievsky managed to establish dairy production. But he had no legal documents for the right of ownership for a long time. In 2002, the future Vasily Boyko-Veliky arrived in the Ruzsky district-at that time it was just briskly-and wanted to buy land under the project of the Ecological village “Ruzskaya Switzerland”. The calf, who was looking for Norievsky, Boyko also interpreted as his property. And Norievsky was sure that the calf was his blood and then a well -deserved room.

When a tractor with the stickers “For Holy Rus'” and the intention of taking the calf began to go to the territory next to the calf, Norievsky’s wife wrote a letter to the editorial office.

Dmitry Andreevich Muratov sent it to me, this story seemed entertaining to him - such an experience of private resistance. And I went by train to Ruza. And then I wrote this text.

First, Vasily Vadimovich filed a lawsuit only to the editorial office of Novaya Gazeta. But after a preliminary hearing, already at the first meeting, the representative of the plaintiff asked me to attract me, the author, as a co -stand.

The judge attracted me. It so happened that for the first time I became a member of the trial, about which I had only written before.

There were seven complaints to me and the plaintiff’s newspaper. Seven complaints - seven quotes from my text, which, according to Vasily Vadimovich, insult his honor, dignity and business reputation. But there were nuances. Suppose two proposals that touched Vasily Vadimovich in the lawsuit were generally incorrectly quoted - I never wrote this.

In addition, the lawsuit indicated: “The plaintiff believes that negative information follows from the heading of the article itself, which prepares public opinion and readers for the fact that we are talking about illegal actions, initially putting a negative assessment.”

Alas, the plaintiff did not take into account that his daughter was a quote in the title, part-time spokeswoman, who “puts a negative assessment” not at all to his father (it would be absurd to suggest this), but to another hero of the text.

By the way, after the release of the text, I received from the freshly-beam Mail, in which she congratulated me on the fact that "a new star caught fire in the sky of custom-made journalists." It was pleasant to get a news from her, but I did not quite understand why.

The plaintiff's side provided the court with an expert assessment of my text (made by a candidate of philological sciences). It concluded that most of the negative assessments of the brisk-giant is expressed “implicitly”.

Probably, the candidate wanted to write "implicitly." But he could not.

When I realized that the plaintiff and his lawyers sued us on the machine, without even trying to delve into the meaning of words, it became insulting.

It was not the case.

At the second court hearing, the Boyko-Great Lawyer came with an expired power of attorney. Judge Grafova threw with a disorder:

“I allocated you for two hours, and you!”

At the third meeting, the lawyer of the Boyko-Great simply did not come (the court secretary forgot to send the agenda). And finally on Thursday everything was done.

We met in the courtroom!

For example, the plaintiff's side tried to protest the phrase: “We realized that it was a planned power grip”, which was told by the wife of Norievsky Elena.

She talked about the situation when people with the Ruzian milk stripes on clothes suddenly arrived at the Norievsky calf, blocked the entrances to the building with tractors with stickers for Holy Rus'. One of them then hit Elena on the arm, knocked out the camera. Next to the calf, people from Ruzsky Milk set a change house and put their guards.

Judge Galina Grafova asked the representative of the plaintiff:

- This is the opinion of people. So they appreciated that it was a power capture. Is it forbidden to express our opinion?

Grafova, it seemed, sincerely tried to understand what was offensive in my text. For example, in the phrase: "Ruzsky district shook from the arrival of investor Vasily Boyko." She asked a lawyer about this three times. And he replied: "I can’t explain, can I go to the next phrase?"

Our meeting lasted a little more than an hour. As a result, Judge Grafova refused to satisfy the claim.

Vasily Vadimovich himself did not come to any meeting. They say that he often suits the texts to himself and never comes. It's a pity. There is probably no time.

In the Ruzsky court, the case of fraud, the legalization of criminal income, falsification of evidence, the organization of the organized crime group, the defendant of which is Vasily Vadimovich, is still obeying.

But residents of the Ruzsky district, even recognized as victims in this case, are now worried about more relevant news - the head of the Ruzsky district is going to use the land in their area to place a temporary garbage training ground.