Reminder of GW media report: MJN must donate 10,000. PLN to the foundation at the oncology clinic, pay the legal costs of businessman Robert Szustkowski and post an apology in the press, the appeals court ruled, finding that Szustkowski was placed unfoundedly on the “reprivatization map.”
The Court of Appeals in Warsaw handed down a final verdict on Wednesday in the case of the so-called “Warsaw Reprivatization Map”, which Miasto Jest Nasze (the City Is Ours) association prepared in 2016. The lawsuit against then MJN leader Jan Spiewak was brought after the publication by businessman and diplomat (former Gambian representative in Moscow) Robert Szustkowski. He was depicted on the map as controlling the Radius development group.
Szustkowski’s name appeared in tabs on the site titled “Reprivatization and the Mafia” and “Russian liaison in the Ministry of Defense.” Spiewak wrote that companies affiliated with the Radius group were involved in wild reprivatization – they took over, among other things. A plot of land on Plac Defilad and townhouses on Madalińskiego Street.
The first instance verdict was handed down in the case in November 2017. The Warsaw District Court has dismissed a lawsuit for defamation allegedly committed against Szustkowski by Spiewak. The judge stressed that much of the description superimposed on the map is true, and that MJN relied on newspaper articles to create the infographic and indicated the sources of its knowledge. “Freedom of expression is one of the cornerstones of a democratic society. It cannot be said that the MJN association acted unlawfully or immorally,” assessed Judge Marcin Polakowski.
Robert Szustkowski has appealed the verdict. The appellate court’s verdict was favorable to him. According to the court, “MJN published untrue and damaging information about Szustkowski and his alleged involvement in the so-called wild reprivatization and membership in a criminal group,” while the businessman’s name was placed on the map unjustifiably.
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