How to prove libel and prosecute in court

Slander can destroy a person’s life - everyone knows this, but how to prove slander and call the slanderers to account is a much more complex question, because lies are not limited to anything, and the truth is confirmed only by convincing objective facts.
Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation introduces the concept of “slander” and describes criminal liability for it. The legislation of the Russian Federation provides a real opportunity for victims of unfair slander to restore their violated rights. It is important to use it skillfully. Multi-channel free hotline Legal advice on criminal law. Every day from 9.00 to 21.00

Moscow and region: +7 (495) 662-44-36

St. Petersburg: +7 (812) 449-43-40

Signs of a crime, responsibility

There are significant differences between crime and ordinary everyday slander and insult.

In order for words to take the form of a criminal offense, the following conditions are necessary:

• defamatory words were communicated to at least one third party;
• the information disseminated is deliberately false;
• destroys a person’s dignity and honor, destroys his reputation.

The law also introduced other special characteristics, which in professional legal language are called qualifying. They increase the severity of the slanderer's guilt and the degree of punishment.

For example, the fine increases from five hundred thousand to five million rubles when spreading a deliberate lie:

• during a public speech;
• through the media;
• using the advantages of the position;
• about committing a serious offense, including sexual offence;
• about a disease that is dangerous to others.

Persons from the age of sixteen are held accountable. But young lampooners, especially those active on the Internet, should not rely on their young age. The harm caused by their actions will be compensated by legal representatives - the parents - through a civil suit.

In addition, the latter will have to answer under Article 5.35. Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation for failure to fulfill obligations to educate minors.

What should parents do if their child is being bullied at school?

Unfortunately, child cruelty can be extremely sophisticated and terrible. You need to deal with it using adult methods - a lawyer and a psychologist tell you what to do if your child is faced with bullying from peers.

Rolan Bykov opened the eyes of many parents and students by filming the famous film “Scarecrow” with Kristina Orbakaite in the title role. This is the story of a girl, Lena Bessoltseva, who constantly suffers bullying from her classmates. The guys even perform a ritual called “Crucifixion of the Scarecrow.” Lena's dress is put on a scarecrow and then burned with the words “The scarecrow is a traitor.” Only this film still has a good ending. The Bessoltsevs leave the city, and on the chalkboard the guys write: “Scarecrow, forgive us!” Today, teenagers have become more cruel, and bullying (literal translation - bullying) is becoming a serious problem that psychologists no longer talk about, but shout about.

“At 30 years old, we can easily laugh in the eyes of the offender. At the age of 14, everything is perceived differently, and the nickname Pinocchio offends and hurts. In my practice, there was a case when classmates brought a schoolgirl to a nervous breakdown because of the girl’s large breasts: they said that she was putting cotton wool in her bra. The story ended with a change of school, long-term work with a psychologist.”

Any teenager can become a victim of bullying. The object of ridicule and bullying is not only a shy nerd, but also an active student, a fighter for justice.

“They always boycott those who stand out from the crowd,” continues the psychologist. “They will bully not only a girl from a poor family who wears her mother’s old coat and doesn’t use deodorant, but also an unusually dressed schoolgirl with pink hair and a nose ring.” They arrange a dark place for teachers’ favorites, sneaks, but at the same time they don’t like honest and talented people.”

It’s more difficult with aggressors.

“Monsters can be raised by parents who are used to humiliating and punishing children,” says the psychologist. “Often a bully becomes the one who is the victim in the family and suffers bullying from elders. Single teenagers, deprived of attention from adults, can become aggressors. The child feels useless, resentment and anger accumulate, which he then takes out on other children.”

According to the psychologist, the scheme of any bullying is similar and simple.

“What is most important to an aggressor is the reaction of the victim,” says the psychologist. - You cannot show your strength over those who are not afraid and do not notice you. But the child does not always have the strength to fight and ignore the tyrant. You can’t do it without the help of adults.”

Legitimate fight

When we talk about bullying, it always means bullying at school.

“Let’s figure out what legal liability exists for a teenager bullying his peer,” comments lawyer and family law specialist Irina Volkova. — It is clear that from the age of 16 you will have to answer to the law as an adult. Often the aggressors are those who are 14 or younger. From the age of 14, a teenager becomes personally responsible only for certain points of the Criminal Code. But when the child is not yet 14 years old, the parents bear full responsibility for the actions of the children.”

If the father and mother of a bully clearly fail to fulfill their responsibilities, they can be prosecuted under the article “Failure of parents or other legal representatives of minors to fulfill their duties for the maintenance and upbringing of minors.” But to go to court, you need to have a good evidence base: screenshots of all threatening correspondence (it is advisable to have them certified by a notary), witness statements, certificates of beatings, photos of damaged personal belongings. It’s good if there is a voice recorder. Please note: the recording device must be of domestic production.

Still, the lawyer advises trying to avoid legal proceedings, because in reality the only punishment for a minor is for the parents to pay fines (100-200 thousand rubles) and to register a difficult teenager with the police.

“Before you run to lawyers, try to influence the child tyrant through school,” the lawyer continues. - Start with a conversation with the class teacher. If he doesn’t respond, write a complaint to the school principal.”

If there is no reaction from the director, write three statements at once:

- to the commission on juvenile affairs, which is located in the district government;

- to the school council;

- inspector for juvenile affairs.

If these authorities ignore your appeal, then submit applications higher: to the prosecutor’s office, the department of education, and the ombudsman for children’s rights.

“It is advisable to talk about the incident in the media to attract the public. The most important thing is that you should always be close to your child,” adds Irina Volkova.

Real experience

A working case was described on her Facebook page by one of the mothers whose child was bullied by classmates with the full connivance of the teachers - they pretended that nothing was happening. Natalya Tsymbalenko collected all the evidence she could of the outrages happening at school. First, I talked to the class teacher and the parents of the offenders. This led to nothing but a series of insults, but my mother was ready for this. Then she wrote a statement demanding that the situation be sorted out to the school director. I made copies - sent one to the address of the chairman of the school’s Governing Council, and took the other to the Administration of my district in the Commission on Minors’ Affairs.

“I wrote down the numbers of incoming documents,” Natalya clarifies.

Then she wrote a post on social networks. The parents of Natalya’s son’s offenders still refused to make contact: “We’ll meet in court!” But at that moment the school began to stir.

“First, the chairman of the governing council asked me an obvious question: “Don’t you want to take your son?” I honestly forbade even offering me such advice - we will look into this case with my son to the end, and we will also write a memo with the school on the topic of bullying. The process has begun,” writes Natalya.

The juvenile affairs inspectorate came to the school. There were conversations with both children and parents of particularly aggressive schoolchildren. One particularly distinguished person was registered. They apologized to the mother and her son.

Natalya admits: it was not easy. Her son was very scared, especially since at first the aggression against him intensified and there were serious threats.

“I called at every break, my husband picked Petya up from school. I also promised to hire them a bodyguard if the threats became even remotely realistic. But the more activity the school developed (meetings, conversations), the more the class realized that this was all serious. And he calmed down,” says the desperate mother. And he summarizes: “Not a single bullying, not a single persecution will end until adults, third forces, intervene in it. Until the bullies understand and take full responsibility. Therefore, involve the school, the education department, the police, the prosecutor’s office.”

What to do for the victim

If a person believes that he has been slandered, then, discarding unnecessary emotions, you need to do the following:

• objectively assess whether the slander was an act of everyday rudeness, elementary social promiscuity, or contained signs of a crime;
• decide to exercise your right to protection of dignity, reputation and honor;
• try to preserve evidence of slander;
• compile a list of objective evidence that refute the lie;
• contact law enforcement agencies and write a statement, indicating a list of all evidence.

The corpus delicti contains many evaluative concepts that the investigator and the judge can interpret in different ways, so the help of a lawyer specializing in this category of cases will significantly increase the chances of victory.

Deliberate decision making

The decision must be made personally by the victim, since the act relates to cases of private prosecution. Exceptional options are provided when interests are represented by legal representatives. It is important to separate the emotional side of the dispute from the objective.

Wherein:

• the conflict can be ended by reconciliation of the parties;
• the victim has the right to withdraw the complaint.

It is recommended to assess the possibilities of reconciliation in advance and resort to the help of law enforcement in those circumstances when voluntary resolution of the conflict is impossible.

For certain reasons, it is possible for the prosecutor to initiate a case without the direct appeal of the slandered person. This is permitted when spreading slander against a person who, for one reason or another, is unable to independently defend his rights or against a representative of a government body.

Sanctions by law

The minimum fine for libel is 500,000 rubles. An alternative to such payments is the equivalent of the defendant’s earnings for six months or 160 hours of community labor.

If such speeches were of a public nature, the amount of the fine increases to 1,000,000 rubles or confiscation of the income of the guilty person for the past year. Correctional work in this case is extended to 240 hours.

If it is not possible to independently reach mutual understanding, the court puts an end to the dispute between the parties

In circumstances where the source of false information is the employee’s manager, who used his official position to spread gossip, the fine increases to 2,000,000 rubles.

Another penalty in this case is community service for 360 hours or transfer of earnings for the last 2 years to the state.

Attention ! Slander aimed at distorting information about the illness of the victim of rumors is fraught with sanctions of up to 3,000,000 rubles.

In such circumstances, the court takes into account that the injured person was attributed to a disease dangerous to society, from which he does not suffer. If the gossip is aimed at accusing the employee of committing a criminal violation, the punishment involves the maximum measure. Here the defendant pays up to 4,000,000 rubles to the treasury or spends up to 480 hours on public works.

How to record a fact

The act of disseminating defamatory false information may be one-time or repeated. Often the slanderers “backtrack”: they remove their libels, for example, from the World Wide Web, but at the same time the untruth has already been accepted by a circle of third parties.

Therefore, it is important to record acts of slanderous attacks:

1. Copy a screenshot of the relevant Internet page. It is better to do this in the office of a notary, who will endorse its authenticity. Notarized evidence will be accepted by the investigation and the court without any problems.
2. Take on a photo or video camera the act of disseminating defamatory information (posters, inscriptions, public speeches). It is important that the location of recording is “linked”, that is, the image contains characteristic objects by which the shooting area can be reliably identified or the detection function is turned on locations. The fixation time must be specified. As a rule, this is done automatically by a modern camera. A public speech can be recorded on a voice recorder.
3. Save paper copies of disseminated fables: newspapers, leaflets, posters, etc.
4. Enlist the support of witnesses who are ready to confirm the fact of an oral lie and testify to the investigator or judge.

The work done will not allow the attacker to avoid prosecution.

How to refute lies and confirm moral suffering

Emotional theses have no weight in the investigation; in order to prove that the information is false, it is necessary to provide objective counterarguments.

They may be:

1. If accused of committing a crime - a certificate of no criminal record.
2. If accused of a dangerous disease, a certificate from the relevant medical institution stating that the citizen is not registered with a dispensary.
3. If accused of theft - financial reports.
4. If accused of an immoral lifestyle - characteristics from the place of work, study, residence.

Any other documentary evidence of the victim's true activities, as well as witness statements, will be useful.

During a criminal investigation, the applicant has the opportunity to bring a civil claim for compensation for moral suffering caused by the crime. The monetary equivalent of damage can be determined arbitrarily. But this does not mean that the court will satisfy the request completely.

First, you need to provide convincing evidence that moral harm has actually been caused.

Secondly, you are much more likely to receive a refund if its amount is justified by specific documents:

1. A certificate from a psychologist or psychotherapist stating that the patient sought help during a specific period, suffering from a traumatic situation.
2. A certificate from a therapist, if the patient contacted him in connection with psychosomatic health disorders.
3. Relevant medical prescription sheet.
4. Testimony about how the character and behavior of the slandered person has changed will also be useful.

Finding evidence is the investigator’s task, but it will be greatly facilitated if the victim takes the initiative and provides the necessary high-quality evidence.

Criminal liability for libel

Criminal liability is the most severe form of all known types of legal liability, since it is established for acts with the highest degree of public danger.
No material compensation is provided to the victim within the framework of criminal liability, therefore, in the case of libel, the initiation of criminal cases and convictions are quite rare occurrences. Meanwhile, bringing slanderers to criminal liability will significantly increase the effectiveness of protecting the constitutional rights of an individual to honor and good name: such serious consequences as serving a criminal sentence or a criminal record are more than sufficient to deter and prevent similar acts in the future. The victim, offended by slander, will receive moral satisfaction from the knowledge that the criminal received what he deserved. Criminal prosecution is possible only if the full corpus delicti is proven, i.e. object, objective side, subject and subjective side of the crime. Therefore, it is necessary to dwell in more detail on the characteristics of the crime of “libel.”

The object of the crime of “slander” is the totality of social relations in the field of a person’s exercise of the right to dignity, honor and reputation. Thus, the benefits protected by Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation are:

Any individual is considered as a victim; legal entities cannot be victims in criminal law (unlike civil law protection - where legal entities can recover damage caused to business reputation).
The question remains open whether persons who have already died at the time of initiation of the case can be victims. It seems that in cases where slander discredits the good name or reputation of the deceased, members of his family may apply to initiate criminal proceedings. This is indirectly confirmed by Part 2 of Art. 318 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which allows private prosecution cases to be initiated at the request of close relatives of the deceased victim. Slander falls precisely into the category of private prosecution cases, since it is initiated only on the basis of a statement from the victim.

The objective side of slander consists of actions in the form of dissemination of information of a knowingly false nature, which discredits the honor and dignity of another person or undermines his reputation. Thus, the mere fact of disseminating knowingly false information does not constitute a criminal offense. Libel differs in its formal composition, i.e. a crime is considered committed when the defamatory information was actually disseminated, regardless of whether harm was caused to the victim.

In this regard, it is necessary to determine what is meant by the dissemination of defamatory information. In practice, the following actions are interpreted as dissemination of defamatory information:

Moreover, if such information was communicated to the person to whom it directly concerns, then this is not considered distribution, provided that all necessary confidentiality measures were taken during the communication.
Next, we will define what is meant by defamatory information; this is also a necessary element of the objective side of the crime. The official explanation of the term “defamatory information” is given in Resolution of the Plenum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation dated February 24, 2005 No. 3 “On judicial practice in cases of protecting the honor and dignity of citizens, as well as the business reputation of citizens and legal entities.” Despite the fact that this resolution is devoted to issues of civil protection from the dissemination of defamatory information, its provisions are also applied in the practice of bringing to criminal liability, because the objective side is the same.

So, according to the official interpretation of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, statements that derogate the honor and dignity of a citizen are recognized as defamatory information:

When qualifying slander, it is necessary to distinguish between information that contains direct statements about facts that can be verified for compliance with their reality, and judgments of an evaluative nature, which essentially boil down to the expression of a person’s subjective opinion.
A person’s statement of his own beliefs does not contain specifics, and therefore cannot be characterized as false or true, and therefore does not fall under the crime of “slander.” For example, well-known political figures are always the objects of public debate; many different opinions and critical remarks are expressed in their address, but this is considered not only not criminally punishable, but useful for a more responsible attitude towards them in the performance of their duties. Further, an important sign of the objective side of slander is the false nature of the defamatory information that was disseminated. That is, it has been proven that this information is not true, and in fact the facts and events reported never happened. If the disputed information is indicated in official documents, then its false nature can be established only by appealing the relevant document in the manner prescribed by law (for example, appealing a court decision or challenging an official’s decision).

Often, when qualifying acts in practice, the signs of the objective side of slander and deliberately false denunciation are confused (Article 306 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), especially when slandering a person who has committed a serious or especially serious crime or a crime of a sexual nature. In such cases, it is necessary to find out what the intent of the criminal was aimed at: if the victim is brought to criminal responsibility, then this is a denunciation, and if he is humiliated, belittled by his honor and dignity, then this is already slander. Therefore, denunciation is most often expressed in a false report to law enforcement agencies about the commission of a crime.

Meanwhile, if the information reported by a citizen about a crime being prepared or committed is not confirmed, then this is not a basis for initiating a case of knowingly false denunciation. Article 306 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation applies only if there are facts convincingly indicating that the accusation of another with a crime was dictated solely by the intention to cause harm to that person.

The subjective side of slander (i.e., the attitude of the criminal to the crime) is expressed exclusively in the form of direct intent. It must be proven that the subject of the crime is aware of the false nature of the disseminated information and desires harmful consequences in the form of belittling the honor and dignity of another person. If the slanderer made a mistake in good faith, sincerely believing that the information he disseminated was reliable, he cannot be brought to criminal liability under Art. 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

How to calculate material losses

As a rule, the person who has suffered from libel suffers material losses. The offender is obliged to compensate them. To do this, a civil claim for material damage is added to the initiated case. The amount of the claim must be justified. Therefore, at the moment when a decision is made to protect rights with the help of law enforcement agencies, you need to set a goal - to obtain financial documents that ensure success in court.

These include:

1. An invoice, a cash receipt from the clinic, if the citizen sought advice from privately practicing psychologists, psychotherapists and other specialists.
2. Prescriptions, receipts from pharmacies for drugs prescribed to alleviate the consequences of a traumatic situation, relieve psychosomatic disorders, bills for treatment in a sanatorium, and so on.
3. Other documents confirming monetary expenses associated with a damaged reputation, for example, expenses for moving to another locality, for publishing a refutation in the media, and so on.
4. Legal expenses, such as attorney fees.

It is important that all financial costs are directly related to the consequences of the crime.

If an official is slandered

It happens that they try to discredit officials. Such illegal actions are subject to criminal liability.

For a police officer

An interesting fact is that quite often there are cases when, with the help of incorrect information, they try to put pressure on police officers.
This offense is punishable according to Art. 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, large fines or imprisonment of the offender in a correctional institution for a period of 3 to 10 years.

Download for viewing and printing:

Article 286. Excess of official powers - Criminal Code of the Russian Federation of June 13, 1996

Alternative option: application to the magistrate

Often citizens, for various reasons, are frightened by the need to contact the police. In the case under consideration, an alternative option is possible: file a claim for protection from defamation to a magistrate. A sample application must be available at the court office.

Process details:

1. The case will be considered if the victim reliably knows the slanderer, his identity, and residential address, since the magistrate’s court does not take action to identify and search for suspects, but decides, on the basis of the data provided, which of the disputing parties is right.
2. The applicant needs to be prepared to convincingly prove with the help of facts the guilt of the slanderer and the moral and material damage caused by him. This is not such a simple task as it seems at first glance, so the help of a qualified lawyer will be useful.
3. It is possible to reconcile the disputants on terms that suit everyone. It is important to reach an “amicable” resolution of the conflict before the judge leaves to make a final decision.

Attention: the advisability of going to the magistrate’s court must be considered in advance.

Results of consideration

1. The court (if Part 1 of Article 128 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) or the police (Parts 2-5 of Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) initiate a case and attract the persons involved.
2. Once the information is collected by the police, it is forwarded to the magistrate for a decision on the merits.
3. In court, directly during the consideration of the criminal case, a claim for compensation of funds will be investigated, at your request.
4. The court is obliged to pronounce a verdict, whether acquittal or conviction, it all depends on the internal conviction of the judge.
5. If you do not agree with the court decision, you can appeal it to a higher authority (regional court).

Who can be held accountable?

A citizen may be charged with disseminating defamatory information for three reasons:

1. The person does convey false and unpleasant information, but does so without malicious intent. As a rule, the message comes from the words of other people, thoughtlessly and irresponsibly.
2. A citizen deliberately spreads lies in order to denigrate another person and cause real damage to his reputation and cause moral distress. These actions form the classic corpus delicti.
3. Claims are made against a person for slanderous activities in order to deliberately damage his own reputation by presenting him in an unsightly manner to society. In this case, it is necessary to understand who the true subject is – the criminal. Here we are talking about a counter civil claim or the initiation of a new criminal case based on false denunciation and slander of a former suspect.

It is important to be aware of how fair the claims are, and to be prepared to prove your innocence or bear responsibility.

What is not considered libel?

Quite often, an unintentional insult to an opponent is confused with a deliberate attempt to slander him. Therefore, in order to avoid confusion, it is necessary to determine what, from the point of view of the law, is not considered slander and false accusation:

• If a person disseminates false information, sincerely believing that it is true;
• Expressing negative information in person, one-on-one, during a quarrel, or in the presence of a small number of people;
• Spreading gossip. This phenomenon is considered a character trait inherent in a fairly large percentage of people, and therefore cannot be interpreted as the deliberate dissemination of false information.

Despite the presence of distinctive features of this phenomenon, it is quite problematic to prove it and bring it to justice. To do this, it is necessary to obtain strong evidence of at least two facts - that the information was transferred to third parties, the attacker committed the crime intentionally, realizing the falsity of the transmitted information.

How to act when accused of libel

Possible scenarios:

1. If the spread of untruths occurred accidentally, without malicious intent, then, without waiting for the victim to file a statement with the court or the police, steps should be taken towards reconciliation: negotiate, publish a refutation, apologize, and so on. There is no point in hoping that the offense was committed “not out of malice”: for law enforcement agencies, it is enough that the victim considers his reputation to be tarnished. Sometimes a linguistic examination will help: it will clarify that the controversial information does not have an offensive meaning.
2. When a crime is committed intentionally, the suspect (accused) has a chance to repent and apologize during the investigation or trial. You can convince the victim to enter into a settlement agreement and withdraw the statement from law enforcement agencies. It is possible that the amount of damage will have to be voluntarily paid and a public apology made. Nevertheless, this result is much better than an actual criminal record, and the amount of the agreed payment may be less than the official fine.
3. The situation in which it is necessary to prove that the suspect did not spread lies or that the information published or voiced by him is true is the most difficult. It is important to focus the investigation’s attention on the motive for the action. You must provide irrefutable evidence to support your position. This can be done as part of a counterclaim for spreading slander against oneself.

If choosing a solution is difficult, then it is advisable to promptly seek qualified help from a lawyer.

Judicial practice in cases of bringing to criminal liability for libel

The accumulated experience in applying Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is not so rich, but nevertheless, a number of illustrative cases can be cited that, using specific examples, allow us to understand the intricacies of qualifying slander.
For example, in Korolev, a criminal case was considered based on a statement from a local resident that false information of a disgraceful nature had been posted about him on the Internet. On dating sites, pages were created with his photographs, where information about homosexuality and his intention to make corresponding acquaintances with men was indicated. There was a long correspondence on his behalf online with obscene statements and proposals. The court found the information distributor guilty under Art. 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, parts 2.

As practice shows, libel cases are very often brought against journalists and other media workers. Thus, a guilty verdict was passed against a correspondent of a politically oriented newspaper under Art. 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for disseminating knowingly false information that discredited the honor and dignity of other persons.

However, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation overturned the verdict, indicating that criminal liability can be brought for libel only if the accused knew about the false nature of the defamatory information and wanted to disseminate it in society. In the case under consideration, the journalist conducted her own investigation using professional powers and presented the information obtained in her article. In court, the journalist did not admit that the published information was deliberately false; she explained that she learned the information from personal conversations with local residents. Thus, the information disseminated by the journalist was not perceived by her as false, and therefore there is no corpus delicti of libel in this case. There was an honest misconception regarding the accuracy of the published information.

In another case, the journalist was also acquitted, but the trial reached the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. The journalist was charged with deliberately disseminating in the newspaper an accusation against two former businessmen of committing a serious crime - embezzlement and embezzlement of a large sum of money. The Supreme Court ruled that the case materials testify to the journalist's conscientious misconception regarding the truth of the information he published. At the time of the interview, the citizens interviewed had no doubt that they were providing reliable information to the journalist, and no circumstances were identified that would allow one to doubt the authenticity of the information received. In this regard, there is no confirmation of the correspondent’s intent to disseminate knowingly false information, which precludes the application of Art. 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The biggest difficulty in qualifying slander is the issue of establishing the deliberately false nature of the information disseminated. For example, the court refused to convict under Art. 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in connection with the accusation of a police officer of slanderous stories to colleagues that another officer shot at his window at night. It was confirmed in court that in his stories to his colleagues, the accused only made assumptions about who it could be. The knowingly false nature of the information was not proven.

In another case, the court recognized that both information invented by the distributor himself and rumors retold by him can be deliberately false. In particular, she was accused of libel under Art. 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a citizen who reported to the head of her department that her work colleague was found in her office in an intimate setting with a man. The accused referred to the fact that she had no intention of disseminating deliberately false information, but only wanted to verify the rumors, and therefore asked the boss to maintain confidentiality. However, the court considered that the accused, having learned inaccurate, dubious information, conjectured it, deliberately distorted it and disseminated completely specific, deliberately false defamatory information about the victim.

Linguistic expertise

Each person perceives the categories “honor” and “dignity” in a unique way.
What is insulting and humiliating for one is a matter of course for another. To exclude value disputes between the victim and the suspect (accused), a linguistic examination is appointed. Any of the parties may apply for its conduct, or the person conducting the investigation may make a decision on his own initiative. The expert solves several problems, including:

• explains the meaning of words and phrases in different senses and interpretation in a specific context;
• studies a fragment of text and reveals its focus and expressiveness;
• analyzes stylistic devices;
• resolves the issue of the nature of the outgoing information: statement, opinion, reflection;
• determines the relationship between the nature of statements and a specific person.

The expert's opinion is an important argument that cannot be neglected.

Article 129 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - libel

Articles 129 and 130 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which established liability for libel and slander, have lost force. Instead, there is one article of the Criminal Code - 128.1.

Slander is understood as the dissemination of deliberately false information that can negatively affect the reputation of a citizen and discredit his honor and dignity.

The article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for slander includes a list of aggravating circumstances for which a more severe punishment is imposed:

• publication of untrue information in the media or public speech;
• use of official position;
• dissemination of information that a person suffers from a dangerous disease;
• charge of a crime of a sexual nature;
• charge of a grave or particularly grave violation of the law.