14 EINARSSON v. ICELAND JUDGMENT words, although the Court has no reason to call into question the Supreme Court’s findings that the statement was a part of a “ruthless public debate” prompted by the applicant’s behaviour and public persona, the factual context in which the statement was made, and its allegation that the applicant was a “rapist”, was the criminal proceedings in which the applicant had been accused of the very same criminal act to which the statement referred, proceedings which had been discontinued by the public prosecutor for lack of evidence (see paragraph 6 above). 52. In light of the above, and in particular the objective and factual nature of the term “rapist“, when viewed on its face, the Court finds that the contextual assessment made by the Supreme Court did not adequately take account of relevant and sufficient elements so as to justify the conclusion that the statement constituted a value judgment. However, even assuming that the Court were to accept the Supreme Court’s classification of the statement “rapist” as a value judgment, the Court recalls that under its settled case-law (see paragraph 40 above), even where a statement amounts to a value judgment there must exist a sufficient factual basis to support it, failing which it will be excessive. In the light of the discontinuance of the criminal proceedings against the applicant just prior to the publication of the applicant’s newspaper interview, the Supreme Court failed to explain sufficiently the factual basis that could have justified assessing the use of the term “rapist” as a value judgment, the Supreme Court merely referring, as previously mentioned, to the applicant’s participation in a “ruthless public debate” which he had “instigated” when he gave the interview in question. In short, Article 8 of the Convention must be interpreted to mean that persons, even disputed public persons that have instigated a heated debate due to their behaviour and public comments, do not have to tolerate being publicly accused of violent criminal acts without such statements being supported by facts. The Court therefore finds that the statement was of a serious nature and capable of damaging the applicant’s reputation. It reached such a level of seriousness as to cause prejudice to the applicant’s enjoyment of the right to respect for private life for Article 8 to come into play (see, inter alia, A v. Norway, cited above, § 64). (iv) Conclusion 53. In the light of the above-mentioned considerations the Court finds that the domestic courts failed to strike a fair balance between the applicant’s right to respect for private life under Article 8 of the Convention and X’s right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the Convention. The Court therefore finds that there has been a violation of Article 8 of the Convention.