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Novaya Gazeta appears to have reached a compromise with the
Krasnodar judge who won an unprecedented $1 million libel suit
that threatened to bankrupt the newspaper. Novaya Gazeta representatives
and Judge Alexander Chernov, who had sued the newspaper for defamation,
met Friday and agreed that Chernov would write to a higher court
asking that the amount of fine be cut "to a reasonable level,"
while the newspaper would acknowledge errors in its reporting.
Chernov said Monday that he was satisfied now that the newspaper
was obliged to acknowledge its shabby reporting. He said he will
negotiate the amount of the fine with Novaya's editor, Dmitry
Muratov. "It can be any amount that would allow the newspaper
to continue publication," Chernov said.
Novaya Gazeta's deputy editor, Sergei Sokolov, said the newspaper
planned to file an appeal this week in hope of a reduced fine.
Meanwhile, a group of liberal politicians -- including former
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky
and Union of Right Forces head Boris Nemtsov -- issued a statement
Monday asking that the fine be reduced on appeal. The statement
stressed that moral damages cannot be used to punish or drive
a newspaper out of business.
Chernov sued after Novaya Gazeta published a story alleging
he was living well beyond his means. The story said he owned a
$50,000 watch and was building a $1 million mansion in the Black
Sea resort of Sochi on a monthly salary of $300.
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