In the complaint, Penta pointed out that in 2017, when the Netage Plus program published information unrelated to the development plan described, the television channel had harmed its reputation.
For example, claims that Benda is partly suspected in the Gorilla corruption scandal in Slovakia, where Benda’s co-founder Marek Dospiva was arrested by anti-corruption police or that Benda has business ties to it.
Courts concluded that there was no reasonable cause for public information, that it undermined the foundations of society, and that television breached the boundaries of freedom of expression.
A recent event has now taken a different stance. Protecting the first person’s reputation does not mean that only such information about the person concerned can be disclosed, which the person considers positive and complimentary, or that some negative (but untrue) information must be made public, perhaps additional matters and less relevant matters that this person’s time may require, in judgment. stand up
In 2020, the Prague Municipal Court ordered the television to apologize. The Supreme Court, which has yet to decide again, has added an obligation to remove controversial statements from the Internet.
In its leave to NS, the television said the statement did not deviate from the limits of freedom of speech or generally accepted rules of decency. The report responds to the public debate on the urban development of Prague’s city center and mentions some of Penta’s relevant activities.
NS accepted TV’s contentions and referred to an earlier decision regarding the functioning of the media and freedom of speech. According to NS, the information published by the TV was not manipulative, distortion or exaggeration. They are related to Penta’s business activities. It cannot be concluded that this is the information behind the case, or if they were primarily motivated by death to defame the applicant, NS said.
The court recalled that the subject of the report was the construction of a large development project in the center of Prague, whose historic center is protected as a city monument and included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List. Undoubtedly, such a construction, even in view of the location of the real estate object, generally, the court pointed out.
That is, the content of the discussion about a matter of public interest should include information that is not perceived positively by the affected person (factual), but also information that seems unpleasant or disturbing from his point of view. , what, on the basis of the discussed matters, according to the judgment of the Supreme Court should include public information of numerous economic (controversial) activities of lawyers.
Penta is a Central European investment group founded in 1994. It is active in healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, retail, real estate development and others. Psob in about ten European countries represented in Prague, Bratislava and Varau.
The company plans to invest billions of crowns around the Masaryk mine. Penta Group’s investment also includes the media company Vltava Labe Media, which publishes the most important regional magazine R (Denk) and several lifestyle magazines.
