The Bucharest Court has suspended a libel case brought by a Romanian lawmaker against Universul.net
The judge on Thursday suspended a 2023 lawsuit, filed by lawmaker Mihail Neamtu of the nationalist AUR party, against Universul.net and two other journalists on the grounds that the plaintiff had failed to fulfill his legal obligations in the case.
Mr. Neamtu, who was not an MP when he filed the lawsuit, sued Universul.net and political journalists Grigore Cartianu and Costin Andrieș for what he claimed were a series of coordinated defamatory articles that had damaged his reputation and prevented him from selling his books.
The judge, however, on Thursday invoked Article 242 of the New Code of Civil Procedure, which says a case can be suspended when the judge finds the trial is being impeded by a plaintiff who fails to fulfill their judicial obligations. At a hearing on June 2, the judge asked Mr. Neamtu to clarify his lawsuit against Universul.net, but he did not.
Mr. Neamțu, who was elected to the Romanian far-right AUR party in 2024, can appeal the ruling.
The author and theologian sued Universul.net over a news story where he was described as “the new ideologue of the anti-Western AUR-ist trend”. The following year, he joined the party.
Mr Neamțu asked for damages of 400,000 lei (79,000 euros), claiming he was the target of an orchestrated press campaign, which allegedly harmed his publishing activity and appearances on television shows and other public events. Universul.net director Alison Mutler, Mr. Cartianu and Mr. Andries deny all the charges.
Mr. Neamtu did not attend any of the 10 hearings, while he was occasionally represented by his lawyer.
