Russian dissidents hope for protection in Europe. But they can also come under pressure in Germany, like two investigative journalists who report on the Russian secret services.
Room B 335 in the Hamburg Regional Court. On the left in front of the presiding judge Florian Schwill sits the Russian businessman Alexey Kozlov with an interpreter and his lawyer. Kozlov had obtained a temporary restraining order. It prohibits the Hachette Book Group from further distributing a book about the activities of Russian secret service agents as an e-book in Germany. The US publisher disagrees. His lawyer Jan Hegemann sits on the right in front of the panel of judges.
The authors of the book “Compatriots”, Russian investigative journalists Irina Borogan and Andrei Soldierov, did not come. They live in exile under police protection, as Hegemann will explain to Judge Schwill and his two assessors. The journalists know Kozlov well and have interviewed him for several hours in order to make him and family members the protagonists in their book. One of Kozlov’s great-grandfathers is known for having organized the murder of Stalin opponent Leon Trotsky in 1940.
Kozlov should be a positive character, “someone who started out as a rather shady businessman with connections to the secret services and switched to the side of good because of his personal problems,” is how Soldierov describes the businessman’s role in the book.
But Kozlov claims that “almost everything is distorted” and that he is being slandered. It is untrue that he owes his career in the financial sector to connections with the secret service – hence his request for an injunction.
“Mountains of trivialities”
The court date on December 8th only concerns the time at which Kozlov filed the application in court. Finally, the court imposed the order on October 10 due to urgency. However, that was almost exactly four years after the book was published on October 8, 2019.
Kozlov must therefore be able to plausibly explain why he is only now taking legal action against the publication. He himself claims to have been one of the first buyers of the book and to have read the first 100 pages in 2019, which also talk about his great-grandfathers. However, because he was annoyed and bored by the contents, he put it away and hid it. He only read the pages concerning him during a beach vacation in New York on August 18th and then immediately contacted a lawyer.
Lawyer Hegemann responded that Kozlov had presented “mountains of trivialities” under which an implausible account was hidden. He mentions that Kozlov’s legal approach contains some SLAPP elements.
SLAPP means “Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation” – a legal action aimed at silencing critics. Hegemann cites the example of the disputed value of 100,000 euros, which he describes as “ludicrous”. In New York, where the publishing house is based, such a procedure is unthinkable.
Investigations against the authors
And precisely the timing of the trial: Irina Borogan and Andrei Soldierov have been known as serious investigative journalists for years. The complaint is her third book about the work of the Russian secret services. They were able to work undisturbed for a long time.
But in 2020, the license for their news website agentura.ru in Russia was revoked because the founder of the website had died – even though both were alive. They took this as a sign and, like many others, left the country.
But the Russian authorities continue to pursue them. One reason is obviously that they have been reporting on unrest and purges within the domestic intelligence service FSB since the Russian invasion began in February 2022.
On the basis of the 2022 media law, which bans criticism of the “special military operation” in Ukraine, Schlachtov was charged with defaming the armed forces and his bank accounts in Russia were frozen. The investigation allows the Russian services to monitor Schlachtov as he does tagesschau.de wrote. On November 3, 2023, he was also declared a “foreign agent.”
Accounts frozen
Bank Austria in Austria also recently closed the authors’ account. When asked about the reasons, the financial institution did not give an answer to the Austrian newspaper “Standard”, citing banking secrecy. A few days ago, the German Internet provider Hetzner also canceled the contract for agentura.ru. The company cited the “tense geopolitical situation with Russia” as the reason.
The injunction against the book was already likely to cause a loss of reputation for Borogan and Soldierov: On October 17, Kozlov published a photo of the court order with allegations against the two on Facebook. The process represents a significant financial outlay for the publisher, Hegemann said at the court hearing.
Court stops Kozlov
Finally, the lawyer points out that on the first pages of the book in question there is a “cast of characters” similar to a film, in which Kozlov and his then wife are listed as protagonists. The judges can see for themselves. Kozlov has his copy with him. He apparently realizes at that moment that his argument cannot be maintained. Because then why shouldn’t he have looked for the positions in which he appears as a protagonist in 2019?
His interpreter translated: If Borogan and Soldierov apologized, he would withdraw his application. They were already living under police protection, he didn’t want to make their lives any more difficult. He himself spent four years in prison in Russia.
But Judge Schwill stopped Kozlov at that point without further explanation and said that the chamber would now deliberate. The court later announced that the interim injunction would be upheld. The reasons will be announced in the coming days. Hegemann can then file an objection on behalf of the publisher before the Hamburg Higher Regional Court.
If Hegemann is unsuccessful before the Higher Regional Court, it will be up to Kozlov to decide whether he wants to take part in the main proceedings. The plaintiff and defendant would then have to present evidence and witnesses to the court. Kozlov would then have to pay an advance on legal costs, which is based on the stated amount in dispute of 100,000 euros.
The Hamburg court is known as the most authoritative and professional in matters of copyright, reputation and media, Kozlov wrote on Facebook to explain why he and his lawyer contacted the Hanseatic city’s regional court. After the judge’s decision on December 8th, he published a new video post with the headline: Hamburg is one of the best cities in Europe.