Russian billionaire sues German journalist

Alisher Usmanov won a defamation case against German public broadcaster ARD this month.

Russian metals tycoon Alisher Usmanov filed a criminal complaint with the prosecutor’s office in Cologne, Germany, after winning a defamation lawsuit against German television channel ARD, tabloid Bild reported Friday, citing his lawyer. ‘Usmanov. The billionaire seeks to hold an ARD journalist criminally responsible.

Earlier this month, the Hamburg District Court supported Usmanov in a defamation case against German public broadcaster ARD, which had previously published two articles and a video report in which journalist Hans-Joachim Seppelt accused the man Russian businessman of being behind a scheme aimed at manipulating referees during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The court found the information published by ARD unreliable and banned its distribution on the grounds that it was “inappropriate information based on suspicion”. The decision also provides for a fine of up to 250,000 euros (about $274,000) or imprisonment for non-compliance.

“Mr. Seppelt and the ARD sports show not only violated basic journalistic standards and the press code. This malicious and vile insinuation is also punishable. Seppelt only wanted to make Mr. Usmanov look contemptuous. He had no “It’s not journalism, it’s a shame,” Joachim Steinhofel, the businessman’s lawyer, told Bild.

Usmanov was known in the sporting world for serving as president of the FIE, the International Fencing Federation, for 14 years until 2022, when he voluntarily resigned after the EU added him to its list black with sanctions.

This controversial information is based in part on the statements of Georgian fencer Sandro Bazadze, who claimed to have unfairly lost the round of 16. The president of the Georgian Fencing Federation, Merab Bazadze, later rejected the allegations, calling them emotional reactions, and issued an official apology to the FIE.

Unlike other German media outlets, ARD refused to voluntarily retract the allegations and rectify the facts at the request of Usmanov’s lawyers. The defamatory materials were only removed after the court’s decision.

(RT.com)