 Source: HRO.org (info) The Rosbalt news agency’s lawyer, Dmitry Firsov, regards the decision by Tagansky Court not to hear the agency’s complaint against the Federal Communications Agency as a “violation of the rights of news agencies of access to justice.” “We were virtually deprived of the right to appeal against the warnings on the basis of which the Federal Mass Media Inspection Service filed their lawsuit,” Firsova was quoted by Rosbalt as saying. “I assumed that the judge would consider the case on its merits. Moreover, at the beginning of the trial I noticed that the power of attorney of the Federal Communications Agency’s representative was flawed and inaccurate. Regardless, the judge issued the verdict. We are obviously going to appeal against the verdict to Moscow City Court within the prescribed 15 day period”. On 13th November the Tagansky Court Judge, Yulia Smolina, dismissed the complaint by the Rosbalt news agency against two official warnings issued unlawfully by the Federal Communications Agency against Rosbalt. The basis for this judgment was the verdict of Moscow City Court to ‘close down’ the agency as a media outlet, on the basis of a suit by the Federal Communications Agency of 31 October 2013. As the lawyer acting for Rosbalt pointed out immediately after the hearings ended, the verdict has yet to enter into legal force and will be appealed. Translated by Chloe Cranston |
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