“Stupefaction”. Victor Ciutacu's reaction, after the court ordered him and Romania TV to pay huge compensations for defaming the Dăruiește Viață association
“The sensation I had when the news was communicated was amazing,” said Romania TV journalist Victor Ciutacu, in a dialogue with HotNews. He has to pay, together with the television station where he works, but also with three other journalists, moral damages in the amount of 3 million lei for the association Dăruiiste Viață and for its founders, Carmen Uscatu and Oana Gheorghiu. The court's decision is not final.
Ciutacu announced that he, his colleague Ioan Korpoș and the television he works for will appeal the decision of the Bucharest Court:
“As the sentence says, which is neither final nor enforceable, an appeal can be made, which, obviously, together with the lawyers, we have already decided. Both I, the television station, and, obviously, my colleague Ioan Korpoș. I am talking about me and the television station that I represent and which, obviously, was sentenced jointly with me, or I jointly with him, that remains to be clarified.”
“This freedom of speech that costs you 200,000 euros for a hat is very interesting”
He says that “the sensation he had when the news was communicated was amazing”, especially since the decision comes a day after the International Day of Freedom of the Press: “Very interesting this freedom of speech that costs you 200,000 euros per hat, plus court costs”.
The România TV journalist also told the HotNews audience that the sentence of the Bucharest Court came after eight postponements and with an unexpected result: the court decided that the representatives of the association should receive moral damages equal to the amount they requested in court.
He also added that in the lawsuit he filed against Cristian Rizea “I received a sentence that my dignity is worth 8,000 lei. This is the type of compensation that the court in Romania generally issues.”
Asked why he thinks that, in this case, the court decided a significantly higher amount, the producer from Romania TV said that he is waiting to read the court's reasoning.
How to defend Ciutacu
He claimed that the show that reached the court started from an investigation of Liviu Alexa, who was also obliged to pay 500,000 lei to the association Dăruieste Viață and 250,000 lei each to Carmen Uscatu and Oana Gheorghiu, currently deputy prime minister.
“We took over Alexa's revelations and commented on them. We commented on them, good or bad, God knows. The court considered it bad. The fact is that we and Alexa have to pay a fixed amount of money, although the respective merit of the journalistic investigation, which, in my opinion, is good, belongs exclusively to Mr. Alexa. Don't think that I want to hide. No, I'm not hiding. I consciously took over Liviu Alexa's investigation, no someone shoved it down our throats”, said Victor Ciutacu.
He called the process “an attempt to intimidate” him and “economic suppression.”
“The honor and dignity of the respective ladies is worth 200,000 euros. Honor and dignity are expensive. That's what the judge decided that the honor and dignity of the two ladies is worth. Forgive me, if we damaged them by 20,000 lei and not a million lei, were they less damaged? How to measure this damage?”, continued Ciutacu.
Message for the judges
“The lady judge, probably used to the good money that is earned in the judiciary in Romania, has some very idyllic views on our salary and payment level. If the lady has the impression that I find 200,000 euros on the street, she has an inflated opinion,” said the Romania TV star.
Asked if he will pay the amount of money if the decision remains final, he stated that he has no other option, but hopes that the decision will be overturned at the Court of Appeal.
“I am inclined to hope that this sentence will not remain final, at least in its form. Ok, the honorable court can decide that we were wrong. But the problem is also, I repeat, the amount of compensation awarded by the court. I hope, in my naivety, that the decision will be completely overturned on appeal. The amount seems to me to be unbelievable,” he added.
“I'm not intimidated, obviously I'm revolting, obviously I'm stunned by the way they judge in the Romanian country, but that doesn't mean we're kneeling down, at least from my point of view and that of the television station for which I currently work. And, obviously, the station won't abdicate either,” concluded Ciutacu.
According to the decision of the Bucharest Court, the Donate Life Association would receive 500,000 lei from Victor Ciutacu, in solidarity with Romania TV, 500,000 lei from the director Ioan Korpoș, in solidarity with Romania TV, 500,000 lei from Liviu Alexa and 50,000 lei from Iosefina Pascal. In addition, Victor Ciutacu and Romania TV still owe 250,000 lei to Oana Gheorghiu and the same amount to Carmen Uscatu. Ioan Korpoș and Romania TV will also have to pay 250,000 lei each to the two founders of the Association, as well as the journalist Liviu Alexa. Iosefina Pascal also owes 25,000 lei each to Gheorghiu and Uscatu.
