Independent Karelian journalists acquitted in court

The three journalists of the local newspaper in the Karelian town of Kalevala can sigh of relief as the regional Supreme Court rules that a disputed editorial published last year is not in conflict with the law.

Police in the Republic of Karelia sued the small independent newspaper when it in mid-2015 published a story which criticized a specific case of police conduct. 

In the story, Chief Editor Lyubov Gorokhova used a Russian proverb to hint that the local police corps was getting away with law violations.

The Supreme Court first decided that the newspaper had to publish a retraction. In this week’s appeal case, however, the court presidium decides otherwise. The newspaper story did not discredit the police after all, the court verdict says, newspaper 7x7-journal reports.

The Severnye Berega was established by three journalists who in 2013 broke out from the local government-owned newspaper Novosti Kalevala. The young and independent media company did not get an easy start. 

«You can say that we are living in a constant war with the local authorities», journalist Andrey Tuomi told 7x7-journal.

And it is all related with the free journalism of the news team.

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«The problem in our relationship with the [village] administration is always connected with our desire to write about the most important and difficult issues for our municipality», Tuomi underlines.