The People’s Choice Award: European SLAPP Contest 2025

VOTING CLOSED

The European SLAPP Contest is back, exposing the worst offenders using legal threats to silence critics. On April 8th, we’ll announce the winners across five categories at our prize-giving event.

Think one of the nominees deserves extra recognition for their dedication to legal bullying? Vote for them in the People’s Choice Award.

Details of the candidates by category below. Voting closes 00h00 CET (midnight) Sunday 6th April.

The 2025 Shortlist

Corporate Bully of The Year

Hrvatske šume (Croatia)

Hrvatske šume (Croatian Forests Ltd), the state-owned company managing Croatia’s forests, has filed three private prosecutions for criminal defamation against environmental activist Vesna Grgić, leader of the Green Squad. The lawsuits stem from a social media post and a YouTube recording in which Grgić criticised destructive logging practices, including in Natura 2000 sites, and alleged serious irregularities by the company. While Hrvatske šume does not seek compensation, they demand that Grgić be fined an amount linked to Croatia’s average daily personal income, potentially reaching €57,000, excluding court and legal costs.

Clean Tech International (Romania)

Clean Tech International, a factory processing animal waste, has taken legal action against AER Muntenia, a citizens’ association fighting to stop its operations due to alleged pollution and unbearable odors affecting 50,000 residents in Slobozia and Ciulnița. After state authorities continued issuing permits despite public complaints, the association challenged Clean Tech’s environmental permit in court.

In response, Clean Tech filed a third-party notice, demanding that individual members of AER Muntenia jointly pay €20 million in damages if the permit was suspended. This legal maneuver led to litigation being recorded in the land registries of the association’s members, preventing them from selling or managing their properties.

Newag Capital Group (Poland)

Newag Capital Group, has sued Dragon Sector, an ethical hacker group, and Serwis Pojazdów Szynowych (SPS), a maintenance company, for copyright infringement and unfair competition.

The lawsuit followed a December 2023 conference where Dragon Sector revealed that Newag’s trains were programmed to malfunction if serviced by third-party companies. This claim arose after train operator Koleje Dolnośląskie experienced unexplained breakdowns when using SPS instead of Newag for maintenance.

Newag denied the allegations and accused SPS of spreading false claims. It is now demanding €1.37 million in damages for reputational harm.

SLAPP Politician of the Year

Robert Fico, Prime Minister (Slovakia)

Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, has sued the editor-in-chief of the news outlet Aktuality.sk, Peter Bárdy, and the publisher Ringier Slovak Media over Bárdy’s book titled “Fico – Posadnutý Mocou” (Fico – Obsessed with Power). 

The lawsuit was filed on 8 August 2024 before the Bratislava City Court IV. Prime Minister Fico has not questioned the content of the book itself but objects to the use of his photograph on the cover. The claim is based on provisions of the Slovak Civil Code on the protection of personality that regulate the right to likeness. Prime Minister Fico is demanding an apology from both parties and €100,000 from each of them in compensation for non-material damages.

Rachida Dati (France)

French Minister of Culture Rachida Dati has filed multiple defamation lawsuits against media outlets Le Canard Enchaîné, Le Nouvel Observateur, and Libération over reports on her political and financial dealings, including ties to Azerbaijan, Qatar, and former corporate executives.

These lawsuits, often targeting investigative journalism, have been criticised for creating a chilling effect on the press by burdening media outlets with high legal costs, even when they win. Despite losing several cases, Dati continues to pursue legal action against journalists.

 Aleksandar Šapić, Mayor of Belgrade (Serbia)

Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Šapić sued the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN Serbia) and its journalists over an article exposing his undeclared €820,000 villa in Trieste. BIRN reported that Šapić failed to disclose the property to Serbia’s Anti-Corruption Agency, as required by law.

Šapić denied the claims, alleging false reporting and seeking 6 million dinars (€51,200) in damages for emotional distress. BIRN maintains that their reporting was accurate and verified. Šapić had previously sued BIRN over their coverage of irregularities in his property legalization process.

Farcical Threat of the Year

ELWI (Denmark)

Between December 2024 and January 2025, Danwatch, a Danish investigative outlet, received legal threats from ELWI, a Moscow-based law firm representing Ingosstrakh, a Russian insurance company previously sanctioned by the US and UK. These threats followed a Danwatch-Financial Times investigation into Ingosstrakh’s role in insuring vessels allegedly circumventing Western sanctions. The investigation also raised concerns over environmental risks from these vessels operating without proper sanction coverage.

ELWI challenged the factual accuracy of Danwatch’s reporting and demanded detailed documentation on sources. Danwatch declined to provide this, emphasizing the importance of source confidentiality and standing by the accuracy of its findings.

Creadomus Invest NV (Belgium)

Between 2014 and 2018, Belgian real estate developer Creadomus Invest NV misled Belgian buyers—many in vulnerable situations—into buying dilapidated apartments located in Germany under false pretenses. German courts annulled 57 sales due to usury, with 48 more anticipated in 2025.

Creadomus has threatened Samen Sterk!, a volunteer-led support group for victims of a the property scam, with criminal and civil lawsuits and damages of “tens of thousands of euros per week”. In April 2024, Creadomus’ lawyers demanded the support group stop calling referring to the “victims” as such and issued legal threats over their advocacy. The company claims the group’s Dutch-language website harms the reputation of the “entire real estate sector” and prevents sales of unsold properties.

Signature Clinic (UK)

Signature Clinic, a UK cosmetic surgery firm, has aggressively pursued legal threats and lawsuits against at least six former patients who publicly complained about painful and unsatisfactory surgical results. Using defamation and anti-harassment laws, the company sought to silence criticism and force patients to remove negative reviews.

The firm’s lawyer, Jaroslaw Stachiw, issued extreme legal threats, including warnings of imprisonment for requesting refunds and police reports for social media complaints. A harassment injunction case was dismissed as “totally without merit” in 2024, with most cases lost or settled—one remains ongoing.

International Bully of the Year

Energy Transfer (US/Netherlands)

In 2017, Energy Transfer (ET), the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), filed a SLAPP lawsuit against Greenpeace International (GPI) and the Greenpeace entities in the US. The lawsuit, filed in US federal court, accused Greenpeace of racketeering, defamation, and tortious interference related to their protests against the pipeline, alleging that Greenpeace’s actions harmed the company’s reputation and business operations. The lawsuit claims that GPI and the other defendants “incited, funded, and facilitated crimes and acts of terrorism”. After the case was thrown out, ET promptly filed a new case in state court, making very similar allegations.

The targeting of GPI is particularly striking given that its role in the DAPL protests was limited to signing an open letter alongside 500 other groups. When filing the lawsuit, ET’s Executive Chairman and then-CEO Kelcy Warren told CNBC that its goal in bringing the lawsuit was to make them “pay” for their work. In a separate interview to Valley News Live he said the “primary objective” of the lawsuit wasn’t to recover damages but to “send a message” to activists and environmental organisations.

In March 2025, a North Dakota jury found the Greenpeace defendants liable for defamation, ordering them to pay $660 million in damages to ET—the largest such award against an environmental group in U.S. history.

Karim Keïta (Mali/France)

In 2023, Karim Keïta, son of former Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, filed a defamation lawsuit in France against Arnaud Froger, head of the Investigation Desk at Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The legal action stemmed from RSF’s investigative work into the disappearance of Malian journalist Birama Touré in 2016, during which RSF highlighted allegations of Keïta’s potential involvement. In 2024, a trial was held in December 2024, and Froger was subsequently acquitted.

On 20 February 2025, the Paris judicial court acquitted Froger, underscoring the legitimacy of RSF’s investigative reporting and reaffirming the importance of press freedom in holding powerful individuals accountable.

Jusan Technologies (Kazakhstan/UK)

In August 2022, Jusan Technologies Limited sued The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) for libel over a February 2022 article alleging that former Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev used the UK-registered company to shield his $8 billion business empire. Jusan claimed the report falsely portrayed it as a corrupt entity under Nazarbayev’s control.

The lawsuit was filed in the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. After nearly two years, the case was settled in June 2024, with Jusan dropping the lawsuit. The terms remain confidential, but TBIJ’s article remains online.

SLAPP Addict Of The Year

Angelos Michalopoulos (Greece)

Since 2022, Greek businessman Angelos Michalopoulos and his associates have filed four SLAPP lawsuits, including a criminal case, against the Save Ios Association (SIA) for scrutinising the environmental impact and legal violations of his real estate projects on Ios island.

In 2023, Michalopoulos lost a civil defamation case after suing SIA for €120,000 over a Facebook post that shared an article containing a factual error, which was later corrected. Three cases remain ongoing, including two personal data lawsuits (one civil, one criminal) over SIA mentioning his company’s legal representative in relation to court proceedings, and a penal case for “unfair competition” based on SIA’s reports about restricted beach access. SIA maintains that all its statements were factual and in the public interest.

Eni (Italy)

In 2024, Eni, one of the world’s largest oil companies, launched multiple defamation lawsuits against journalists, activists, and environmental groups who had scrutinised its role in the climate crisis and corruption scandals.

A notable case targeted Greenpeace and ReCommon, two entities that, just a few months earlier, had filed a legal action seeking to hold Eni accountable for past and potential future damages for human rights violations resulting from the climate crisis.

Its targets include Greenpeace Italia, Greenpeace Nederland, ReCommon and its employee Antonio Tricarico for alleged defamation, as well as journalists from Il Fatto Quotidiano, Domani, and RAI’s Report over their reporting on Eni’s practices. The company also lost major lawsuits against Il Fatto Quotidiano and journalist Claudio Gatti over coverage of the Opl245 corruption scandal in Nigeria.

SOCFIN (Luxembourg)

Between 2019 and 2024, Socfin and its major shareholder Hubert Fabri pursued multiple SLAPP lawsuits against FIAN Belgium and four other NGOs—11.11.11, CNCD-11.11.11, SOS Faim Belgium, and SOS Faim Luxembourg—over reports on land issues in Sierra Leone. Seven individual campaigners were also personally targeted.

Socfin has a history of aggressive litigation, having initiated nearly 30 defamation cases against NGOs and journalists over the past decade. The case against FIAN Belgium was delayed due to Socfin’s failure to cooperate with the investigation, leading to a 2023 court-ordered search of its offices.

On 2 October 2024, after nearly five years, the case was dismissed, with parts of the complaint rejected and others time-barred. Socfin lost, and the case is now closed.