Court sides with sanctioned billionaire Usmanov over Forbes’ allegations of Putin ties 

The Uzbek-Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov won a milestone legal victory in a case against Forbes magazine, which claimed that he had “fronted for Putin” in an article that formed the basis for EU sanctions.

Forbes magazine failed to substantiate claims it made about Usmanov in an influential 2022 article about Russia’s most sanctions-worthy billionaires and must retract its statements, which have now been prohibited by a ruling of the District Court of Hamburg in Germany on 19th January 2024.

A copy of the ruling was obtained by EU Today.

Usmanov, known as a media and metals tycoon and one of Russia’s wealthiest men, brought a case against Forbes to dispute a number of claims made by the magazine in a 2022 article titled “Meet Putin’s Oligarchs Most Likely To Get Slapped With Sanctions By Biden Over Ukraine,” on the grounds that they were untrue and defamatory. 

Usmanov’s defence argued that unsupported claims made in the text – namely, a quote from an anonymous expert stating that “Usmanov has repeatedly fronted for Putin and solved his business problems” – were ultimately cited verbatim by the EU in its reasoning for sanctioning Usmanov in February 2022. 

The EU’s entry on Usmanov states: “Usmanov has reportedly fronted for the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and solved his business problems.”

In the court proceedings, Forbes refused to clarify the unnamed “expert” source to whom this statement was attributed.

It was also not able to provide examples of when and how Usmanov had allegedly “fronted” for the Russian president or “solved his business problems.”

The court ultimately prohibited Forbes from disseminating these and several other assertions, including that Usmanov had acquired a stake in the Russian cellular operator MegaFon from Leonid Reiman, the former Russian Minister of Information Technology and Communications,  in order to “solve” a “business problem” for Putin. 

The court’s decision may set a legal precedent for challenging the sources that the EU has relied upon to justify its sanctions on individuals over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Observers have noted that evidence used by the EU has often been shaky or questionable, and has included Wikipedia articles, blog posts, and articles written by artificial intelligence or bylined to journalists who don’t exist. 

Joachim Nikolaus Steinhöfel, a Hamburg-based lawyer representing Usmanov in the field of media law, said: “It is sobering to realise that a globally respected media outlet like Forbes publishes serious allegations but is unable to present even a single piece of evidence in court.

“However, it is completely unacceptable for the EU Council to copy these articles verbatim in its sanctions justification without checking their accuracy.

“This total institutional failure, which has become the rule rather than the exception, became the starting point for a witch hunt against Mr. Usmanov.

“It turns out that the EU Council is justifying sanctions with fake news, whose dissemination has now been prohibited by a court of law.”

This is Usmanov’s second high-profile legal victory against a media outlet that has alleged his close ties to the Kremlin.

In August 2023, the Austrian newspaper Kurier lost in court to Usmanov after publishing an article that said Putin had called him “one of his favourite oligarchs.”

Germany’s Hamburg Regional Court, which issued the ruling, found that the newspaper failed to demonstrate the thruthfulness of this “defamatory” claim. In September 2023, the EU Council stopped using the word “oligarch” in relation to Usmanov. 

Usmanov was sanctioned by the EU in 2022 after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. He is currently contesting the sanctions in court.

The billionaire’s lawyers earlier told an EU court that he was targeted as “prey” by officials due to his high visibility as a public figure, and that his reputation as one of Russia’s wealthiest men made him a prime candidate for sanctions.

Usmanov, who has Russian and Uzbek citizenship, is reported to mainly reside in his native Uzbekistan. He has said that he retired from business activity to focus on his philanthropic projects.

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Read also: Alisher Usmanov: German court rules in favour of Russian billionaire after “unlawful” search warrants

“The actions of the German investigative authorities against Alisher Usmanov can be characterised as a cascade of illegal actions that offend the notions of justice and legality.

“Presented to the public as an impressive demonstration of political resolve, they in no way fulfil the principle of proportionality, which is the standard of law enforcement in a state governed by the rule of law,”

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