You're reading: Varsity: A libel without a cause

Dmitry Firtash, the University donor who attempted to use his Cambridge donations to allow ‘libel tourism’, had his case thrown out of UK courts yesterday. Firtash, a Ukrainian billionaire, had attempted to sue the Ukrainian Kyiv Post for libel.

As Varsity reported last month, Firtash’s solicitor attempted to justify bringing the case to English courts by citing his donations to the University’s Department of Slavonic Studies, which fund the Cambridge Ukrainian Studies programme, as well as the fact that he had once dined with the Queen.

Master Leslie, at the Royal Courts of Justice, said that Mr Firtash’s connections with the UK were “tenuous in the extreme”. The donations to Cambridge University formed a significant part of Firtash’s lawyers argument, Varsity was told. The defence, on behalf of the Kyiv Post, argued that this would set a disturbing precedent, whereby one could buy UK court hearings with university donations. Read more