Head of Odesa Regional Council Didenko sued a journalist: whose side the appeal took

The Odesa Court of Appeal considered a complaint filed by Hryhoriy Didenko, the head of the Odesa Regional Council, who demanded a refutation of negative publications about him on social media.

This is stated in the decision of the Odesa Court of Appeal.

In September 2023, posts appeared on the Facebook and Telegram pages "Irochka will tell..." in which Didenko was accused of corruption and "schemes" in the medical field. He considers these accusations to be slander, degrading his honor, dignity and reputation.

"Well, objectively, there is a history for which Kiper can be said to be young. Grisha Didenko is not just hysterical, but almost seizure-like. He is being objectively pushed away from all topics/schemes. So far, all this has been relatively quiet, but now Grigory may be facing charges. Evil tongues say that the former director of the Odesa Oncology Center, Oleksandr Mykhailenko, paid Hrysha and So a round sum of money for the position (they say more than 100,000 USD). And if Pasternak has kept silent, Mykhailenko may show it. The most interesting thing about this whole situation is that Hrysha and Tomashevska were so despised that they didn't bother with schemes (especially in medicine), so it's not hard to break them up. The list of Tomashevskaya's companies that were taken to hospitals will soon be online. Plus a race to the bomb shelters," the journalist said in her publication.

Photo: Screenshot from the ruling of the Odesa Court of Appeal.

The plaintiff claims that the information disseminated by Hryb is untrue and is presented in the form of factual allegations of actions that contain signs of a crime, violate the presumption of innocence and negatively affect the plaintiff's property rights.

Didenko filed a lawsuit against the author of the publications, Iryna Hryb, demanding that the information be recognized as false, removed from social media and a retraction published. The Illichivsk City Court dismissed his claim, so Didenko appealed.

The Court of Appeal partially agreed with Didenko's arguments: it stated that the information in the posts was presented as facts, without confirmation, and therefore could be considered false.

As a result, the court partially upheld Didenko's appeal.

"The decision of the Ilyichevsk City Court of Odesa Oblast of October 25, 2024, shall be amended by setting out the reasoning part in the wording of this resolution, and otherwise left unchanged," the ruling says.

Photo: Screenshot from the ruling of the Odesa Court of Appeal.

The ruling can be appealed to the Supreme Court within 30 days from the date of the full text of the court decision.

Journalist Iryna Hryb commented on the appeal decision.

"Only Hryhoriy Didenko and the Odesa Regional Council can be happy about losing in court. By the way, Hrysha forgot to say that according to the court's decision, he has to pay me for the services of a lawyer," she wrote.

Ірина Глухова