Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has won a lawsuit against the TV Broadcasting Company Studio 1+1, the press service of Kyiv City State Administration has said.
The lawsuit concerned the airing of the program Hroshi (Money) by Olekandr Dubinsky on the 1+1 TV channel. After the release of the program in August 2019, Klitschko and co-plaintiff Dmytro Bilotserkovets filed a lawsuit to protect honor, dignity and business reputation.
“As you remember, then a wide discrediting campaign was launched against me. And I declared that I would defend my honor and dignity in court. Therefore, I filed a lawsuit against the 1+1 TV channel, which threw mud at me. There is no talk of a restriction on freedom of speech,” Klitschko said.
Following the consideration of the lawsuit, the court satisfied it, obliging the 1+1 TV channel to refute the false information on the air of the program Hroshi. The court also ordered the Studio 1+1 to remove the program in which false information was made public from all information resources of the TV company and related social networks.
Businessman Ihor Kolomoisky, as the main shareholder of the 1+1 media group, will head the supervisory board of the 1+1 television channel, the channel’s press service said. “Today, on December 19, 2019, 1+1 Media announces the completion of the decentralization process and presents an updated management structure for the group. … Ihor Kolomoisky, as the group’s main shareholder, will head the Supervisory Board of Studio 1+1 TV Radio Company LLC,” it said.
In addition, Yaroslav Pakholchuk has been appointed the new head of the 1+1 media board and the director general.
It is noted that MP Oleksandr Tkachenko (faction of the Servant of the People) remains the honorary president of 1+1 media.
Media holding 1+1 media manages the following TV channels: 1+1, 2+2, TET, PlusPlus, 1+1 International, Unian-TV, Bihudi, the news agency UNIAN, such Internet projects as Hlavred and Telekrytyka. The holding also has its own production department, which includes the 1+1 video VOD platform and Media & Production High School. The main owner of the group is Ihor Kolomoisky.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko and his brother, ex-boxing champion Volodymyr Klitschko, have filed suit against 1+1 TV to defend their honor and dignity. “Not a day goes by when the top-rated TV channel says unkind word of the Kyiv mayor. Lies, manipulations, fabricated information. I already said that I would defend my honor and dignity in court. My brother and I have filed a suit against the channel, which flings mud at us. They decided not to stop at me and already have targeted my brother Volodymyr,” Vitali Klitschko said during a press conference in Kyiv on Friday.
Klitschko said, “We are not talking about an attack on freedom of speech,” adding that the head of the channel (Servant of the People Party member of parliament candidate Oleksandr Tkachenko) “is a contender to head of the Kyiv City State Administration.”
Klitschko said campaign had been launched against him. He said the channel’s coverage about the new pedestrian-bicycle bridge in the center of Kyiv and restoration of the Shuliavsky overpass are examples of slanted coverage.
As reported, 1+1 Media Director General Oleksandr Tkachenko, who was elected to parliament on the Servant of the People Party list, has refused to comment about the possibility of his appointment to head of the Kyiv City State Administration.
