2024-04-27 13:50:22
Journalist I. Makaraitytė confirmed to Elta that R. Žemaitaitis complied with the court’s decision ordering him to remove the post published on the social network Facebook and to pay the legal costs.
“Yes, he deleted his post on Facebook on Monday (April 22 – ELTA) and covered all the costs of the litigation,” said I. Makaraitytė.
She insisted that she would not appeal the court’s decision.
R. Žemaitaitis himself confirmed to Eltai that he decided not to appeal the decision of the Klaipėda district court against him, which ruled that the information he spread about I. Makaraitytė humiliates her honor and dignity. The member of the Seimas stated that he did not agree with the court’s decision, but at the same time noted that he did not see the point in appealing it.
“And what will you complain about if you see that there is a political tone?” One case law shows one way, while others can be evaluated differently. So why are you complaining? Why complain about playing for another month or two? So what’s the benefit? There is no benefit”, said R. Žemaitaitis.
In March of this year, the Klaipėda District Court decided that the 2023 election of MP R. Žemaitaitis. In June, a post about I. Makaraitytė published on Facebook, in which a member of the Seimas calls the journalist a “propagandist”, writes that she spreads Nazi and anti-Semitic language, accuses her of confiscating the magazine “Atgimimas” from Romuald Ozolo, the signatory of the Act of Independence, humiliates I. Makaraitytė’s honor and dignity.
In the civil case, the court completely satisfied the journalist’s claim, decided to oblige R. Žemaitaitis to remove the aforementioned post from his account on the social network Facebook, and awarded 3,243 euros in litigation costs to I. Makaraityta from the politician.
According to the court’s assessment, the statements of R. Žemaitaitis’ post undoubtedly presuppose the negative attitude of the people of Lithuania, as a society of a democratic state, towards I. Makaraitytė not only as a natural person, but also towards the LRT journalist known to the majority of the public.
“Taking into account the fact that the purpose of the plaintiff’s (I. Makaraitytė – ELTA) professional activity as a journalist is to strengthen the independence and democracy of Lithuania, and the statements made by the defendant (R. Žemaitaitis – ELTA) that do not correspond to reality in relation to the plaintiff are radically contrary to the principles of a democratic state, undoubtedly, such statements of the defendant discredit the plaintiff’s professional activities and undermine the plaintiff’s reputation as a journalist and reduce public trust in her. It is clear that the information contained in the defendant’s post is negative both in terms of law and morality, and any average person would not want to be identified with such personal characteristics, actions and beliefs,” the court ruling states.
This decision of the Klaipėda district court could be appealed in the appeal procedure, but, as already mentioned, neither R. Žemaitaitis nor I. Makaraitytė appealed this decision. This civil case is closed.
Lost the case against A. Tapin and “Laisvės TV”
ELTA reminds that Seimas member R. Žemaitaitis has already lost in a similar case. In December of last year, the Klaipėda district court ruled that the information spread by the parliamentarian about public figure Andrii Tapinas and the public institution he founded “Laisvės TV” does not correspond to reality, and humiliates honor and dignity.
The court ordered the politician to delete the information posted on Facebook. Also, according to the court’s decision, A. Tapin was awarded 2 thousand from R. Žemaitaitis. EUR, and “Laisvės TV” – 1 thousand. EUR non-pecuniary damage compensation.
Both R. Žemaitaitis and A. Tapinas appealed against this court decision, but the Klaipėda District Court rejected the appeals.
This week, the member of the Seimas fulfilled the court’s obligation to deny information about A. Tapina and “Laisvės TV” previously published on Facebook. As A. Tapinas pointed out, R. Žemaitaitis transferred to him the costs of litigation awarded by the trial and compensation for non-pecuniary damage.
Public activist A. Tapinas and the public institution “Laisvės TV” founded by him applied to the court for information published by R. Žemaitaitis about “Laisvės TV”, A. Tapinas organized support actions for Ukraine (statements about the purchase of the money election combat drone “Bayraktar”, A .Tapeno allegedly lost money, etc.).
2024-04-27 13:50:22