Last Thursday, the Royal Court in London considered the appeal claim by VGTRK and Vladimir Terlyuk (Vladimir Terlyuk, the native of Kazakhstan, as a witness is protected by British and Russian authorities without having any citizenship; there is other reliable information about that person) to the businessman Boris Berezovsky, and recognized the plaintiff's complaint unfounded. TV and Radio Company together with the hero of reportage (shown in the spring of 2007, the TV channel RTR-Planeta, which broadcasts including the UK), that caused a lawsuit from Berezovsky, have not yet managed to challenge the court's decision. They still owe the entrepreneur 150 thousand.

Boris Berezovsky initiated proceedings against the RTR TV channel and Vladimir Terlyuk in May 2007 after VGTRK set to air a news story about the death of former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko. The reportage makes explicit allusions to the fact that Boris Berezovsky was guilty of the death of intelligence agent. Terlyuk under the pseudonym Peter gave a interview based on which the authors of the plot concluded the involvement of Russian disgraced businessman in the murder of Litvinenko. Terlyuk was allegedly executing an order, while Berezovsky gave him money and gave a tip to Litvinenko. In addition, the reportage implied that Terlyuk helped Berezovsky to gain political asylum in Britain.

In March of this year, British Court recognized the rightness of Berezovsky and agreed to pay him? 150 thousand

Shortly after, the case was appealed by the defendants. The appeal, according to case files on the site of the court, was filed on the basis of two facts: RTR representatives were not present at the trial, in addition, the defendant insisted on a jury trial, but a guilty verdict was made considering the opinion of one judge.

When considering the appeal on November, 25 the court found the statements of RTR and Terlyuk unfounded. The paper cited, in particular, the conversation of the lawyers of Vladimir Terlyuk with the judge. The lawyers have shied away for several times from answering a direct question whether they will suit the sole decision of the judge or they insist on a jury trial. After representatives of Terlyuk had learned that Berezovsky was not against the jury, counsel for the accused stated that for Terlyuk process with a single judge was more favorable. By the way, those were lawyers of Terlyuk (originally, on March 8 a trial by jury was to happen) who came to the issue of changing the order of judging a few days before the meeting. It should be noted that the trial jury considers serious criminal cases; its decisions are not subject to appeal.

The Court also recalled that the VGTRK had not had time to prepare for the process and presented the idea of protection too late, so it was denied the right to participate in the hearing.

However, RTR TV channel, which is represented by VGTRK, and Terlyuk are not going to retreat, intending to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal. Moscow Bureau for Human Rights became worried about the fate of the hero's reportage, and allocated money to Terlyuk and granted a lawyer. (Earlier, during the previous process, Terlyuk was provided similar assistance by international human rights organization - "Resistance").