The Central District Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of St. Petersburg lost a lawsuit to protect its business reputation against the chairman of the public organization Open Russia, Andrei Pivovarov, MBKh Media reports.

“The court completely sided with me and confirmed that I have every right to express my opinion publicly,” Pivovarov told the publication.

The lawsuit against Pivovarov was filed in May 2018. The reason was a post that the politician wrote on Facebook after a theft from his car in November 2017. According to Pivovarov, he himself provided the police officer with information about the thieves, but the police officer still postponed the investigation due to being busy dispersing mass riots . The theft from Pivovarov's car has still not been solved .

Earlier, the Central District Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of St. Petersburg lost two lawsuits against a member of the city POC, Yana Teplitskaya. They were filed because of Teplitskaya's reports of torture and insults in the 78th police department. The co-defendants in the lawsuits were the publications Moi Rayon and Mediazona.

St. Petersburg police lose lawsuit against Open Russia leader. He complained about unwillingness to investigate theft from his car