2 SAVVA TERENTYEV v. RUSSIA JUDGMENT 6. At the relevant period the applicant lived in Syktyvkar in the Komi Republic of Russia and had a blog hosted by livejournal.com, a popular blog platform. A. Background to the case 7. In February 2007 an election campaign for election of members of the regional legislature was under way in the Komi Republic. 8. On 14 February 2007 the police arrived with an “unplanned inspection” (внеплановая проверка) at the office of a local newspaper in Syktyvkar. The police searched the office, stated that the software installed on the computers was counterfeit, and seized the hard disks. 9. Later that day, a regional non-governmental organisation – the Memorial Human Rights Commission in Komi (“Memorial”) – issued a press release which linked the search to the election campaign. The press release mentioned, in particular, that the newspaper in question had published a large amount of material in the context of the election campaign, and that it was in opposition to the current authorities of the Komi Republic, as it actively supported a well-known local politician who had a long-standing conflict with those authorities. The press release also stated that the police officers who had carried out the search had not clearly explained what the legal basis for their actions had been, and that one of them had acted rudely and had thrown out some of the journalist’s belongings to get access to the latter’s computer during that search. 10. On the same day, the President of Memorial, Mr I.S., published the text of that press release on his blog at livejournal.com. Three comments were left under that publication on that day. One of the comments was left by a certain Mr T. and read as follows: “The police, once again, confirm their reputation as ‘the regime’s faithful dogs’. Unfortunately, police officers still have the mentality of a repressive hard stick in the hands of those who have the power. It feels like they are an instrument of punishment of the recalcitrant rather than being a service to society. What can be done to carry out a rotation of meanings (ротация смыслов) in the law-enforcement agencies?” 11. On the same date Mr B.S., a journalist, blogger and the applicant’s acquaintance, made a short post on his blog at livejournal.com about the search, stating that the police “[were] seconded for a fight with the political opposition”. The post contained a hyperlink to the press release published on Mr I.S.’s blog. B. The applicant’s comment 12. On 15 February 2007 the applicant, who was a subscriber to Mr B.S.’s blog, read his above-mentioned post and then accessed Mr I.S.’s blog using the hyperlink. The applicant read the text of the press release and