National broadcaster proclaims innocence in libel case
Entrepreneur couple demand EUR half million in damages over news story
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Representatives of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) staunchly denied that the company had been in violation of the law when reporting allegations of criminal activity by Larisa Lisitsyn and her husband in April 2006.
At that time, YLE’s TV news reported that police suspected that the two entrepreneurs had committed bookkeeping fraud and money laundering. The two were later acquitted.
The prosecution in Wednesday’s trial said that a YLE journalist and the programme director for television at the time should be convicted on two counts of aggravated libel, and two counts of disseminating information that violates privacy.
The prosecution withdrew charges from a third defendant, the head of news, during the time, because it turned out that the decision to air the item had been made by the programme director.
The trial focused on what kind of turns of phrase YLE used in reporting on the suspicions, and whether or not they conveyed to the viewer the impression that the Lisitsyns had committed a crime.
The prosecution felt that YLE had falsely claimed that tens of millions of euros had appeared on the bank account of the Lisityns’ company past bookkeeping, and that large amounts of criminally-obtained money would have been circulated through the company’s bank accounts.
The defence felt that the suspicion of crime in the case was a significant social issue, and that the media had the right to report it, in light of the exceptionally extensive investigation into the matter, and Larisa Lisitsyn’s status as a public figure.
The two are calling for nearly half a million euros in damages from YLE. They feel that the way the news was reported labelled them criminals. Taking the witness stand, Larisa Lisitsyn wept when she described the effect that the ordeal had on her children. Outside the courtroom she called one of the defendants a big crook, with many people listening.
Larisa Lisitsyn, 44, became famous in 2004 as CEO of the company Niko Trade with her earnings of EUR 2.7 million in that year, making her the woman with the highest annual earnings.
Born in Russia, Lisitsyn, an ethnic Ingrian Finn, had studied atomic physics at the Leningrad State University. She moved to Finland in 1992.
She set up the company Niko Trade with her husband Nikolai Lisitsyn. The company started by helping Finnish motorists travelling to Russia by car to fill forms required by Russian authorities. Later the operations expanded to delivering goods to Russia.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 16.10.2008 - TODAY |
 National broadcaster proclaims innocence in libel case |
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