Journalists praise court decision over Politis libel case

THE Journalists Union has welcomed a Supreme Court decision which reversed a libel award against Politis newspaper.

The libel case revolved around a story which Politis had published about the then chairman of the Bar Association Nicos Papaefstathiou.

The union yesterday described the decision as “victory for freedom of speech”.

The article had claimed that highly-paid lawyers were in danger of losing money from libel cases that they would take on for their clients because of a possible new change in the law.

The story prompted a letter from Papaefstathiou and a mudslinging match ensued between the lawyer and the newspaper, culminating in the libel suit.

The end result was a court decision ruling in Papaefstathiou’s favour. The newspaper was forced to pay £25,000 in damages to Papaefstathiou, who had represented himself in the law suit.

Politis paid the money to the lawyer, who works for the Tassos Papadopoulos’ law firm, then launched an appeal at the Supreme Court.

The “landmark” decision by the Supreme Court yesterday overturned the ruling of the civil court, ordering Papaefstathiou to return the £25,000 to Politis.

“Freedom of speech is one of the basic foundations of a democratic society and one of the basic principals for a progressive society,” read the Supreme Court decision.

The decision continued, “That freedom applies not only when there are sources or ideas, which should be precise or at least non-hostile or fabricated, but also to matters that are offensive, shocking or disturbing.

“However, freedom of speech also needs to maintain pluralism, tolerance, and spiritual broadmindedness, something which is a necessity in a democratic society.”

In their appeal, Politis claimed Papaefstathiou had launched his appeal on a media law stemming back to 1930 and that amendments to the law were essential if the Cypriot media was to make any progress in modern society.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.