Freedom of expression and NGOs: News from Estonia
Date: Sun, 25 Jan 98 13:13:15 -0500
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Message-Id: <[email protected]>
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Subject: Freedom of expression and NGOs: News from Estonia
From: MINELRES moderator \ Internet: ([email protected])
Original sender: Andrei Arjupin \ Internet: ([email protected])
Freedom of expression and NGOs: News from Estonia
On 8th January 1998 under the claim on compensation for moral and material
injuries, a session of the Court of appellate jurisdiction was held in
Tallinn, Estonia. Legal Information Centre for Human Rights (LICHR) and it's
former director Mrs. Larissa Semjonova (Jakovleva) were the plaintiffs.
Member of the Parliament of Estonian Republic Mr. Mart Nutt and publishing
house of the newspaper "Postimees" were the defendants. The Russian lawyer
Mr. Boris Kuznetsov and the lawyer from Germany Ms. Tatjana Ansbahh
presented the interests of the complainants. The aforementioned Estonian
newspaper called this process "Russia against Mr. Nutt".
Mr. M. Nutt's article published in the newspaper "Postimees" was the reason
for legal proceedings. In this article, Mr. Nutt wrote that "The LICHR had
been created by the intelligence service of Russia", and the LICHR`s
founders were "local Russian chauvinists". The accusations of Mr. Nutt were
based on the content of the report submitted by the LICHR to the UN
Committee on Human Rights in 1995. Following this logic, the UN might be
considered as a branch of Russia's intelligence service.
Defendant's legal speech in the court of nisi prius was constructed on the
ground that "Russian" and "chauvinists" are the same concepts. Moreover,
"Russian chauvinists" conception is of a neutral colour. The Estonian court
of first instance took into account these proofs and decided in favour of
the defendants - Mr. Nutt and the newspaper "Postimees".
Thus, the LICHR had to appeal to the higher judicial instance.
More competent the Appellate Court made a decision in favour of the
plaintiffs. The court obliged the defendant Mr. Nutt to publish a refutation
within 1 month in the newspaper "Postimees". At the same time, the court
declined the request for compensation of a moral damage submitted by the
plaintiffs.
According to the Estonian legislation, the decision of the Court of second
instance may be appealed by each of the parties within 30 days in the
National Court (the National Court of Estonian Republic is the highest level
in the Estonian court system.).
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The Legal Information Centre for Human Rights in Estonia
Sole str. 61 A, Tallinn, Estonia
Tel (+372 2) 49 66 49
Fax (+372) 6 55 26 47
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: Http://www.lichr.ee
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