Recently, the Land Court in Hamburg ruled in favor of Alisher Usmanov, granting his lawsuit against the German publication Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The court recognized several statements about the billionaire as defamatory and prohibited their further dissemination. This was reported by Usmanov's press service, according to RBC.
The court's decision was announced on January 23. For each violation of the established prohibitions, a fine of up to 250,000 euros is stipulated. If the collection proves impossible, an administrative arrest of up to six months may be imposed for each violation, with the total arrest period not exceeding two years.
According to Usmanov's representatives, the court prohibited FAZ from disseminating information that the businessman allegedly used his wealth in the interests of the Kremlin, represented the Russian authorities in Uzbekistan, and interfered in the editorial policy of the newspaper Kommersant after its acquisition in 2006.
Furthermore, the lawyers noted that in this case, the court for the first time prohibited the dissemination of statements that were part of investigations by opposition figure Alexei Navalny and had previously been recognized as false by a Russian court. In particular, this refers to the film "He’s Not Dimon to You," which claimed that Usmanov transferred real estate to individuals close to former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Usmanov's representatives characterized this decision as an important precedent for judicial practice in Europe.
This is not the businessman’s first victory in German courts. In the spring of last year, a Hamburg court prohibited the dissemination of information about the alleged bribery of judges of the International Fencing Federation (FIE), as reported by the German television channel ARD.
In 2024, the same court prohibited the American publication Forbes from claiming that Usmanov is a "frontman" for Vladimir Putin and "solves his business problems."
