Bram Moszkowicz has to pay his nephew Yehudi ten thousand euros in damages because he on television five years ago questioned his qualities as a lawyer and called him “no man.” Bram Moszkowicz’s statements were unlawful, the court ruled Central Netherlands Friday. Yehudi Moszkowicz has touched his “honor and reputation” and thereby “his source of income”.
Bram Moszkowicz was a guest on the television program in February 2015 Studio Powned and spoke with presenter Rutger Castricum about the financial problems that arose when he was removed from the tableau and was no longer allowed to work as a lawyer. The two also talked about a money conflict with his brothers David and Max Moszkowicz. These are “excellent lawyers,” said Bram Moszkowicz, who recommended that people “go there in particular”. “That does not apply to my nephew Yehudi, because he is not worth that surname. (…) That’s actually nothing. ” The fact that, unlike Bram Moszkowicz, he is still allowed to work as a lawyer, would have to do with “his surname and not his skill”.
Bram Moszkowicz presented his statements in the television broadcast not as an opinion but as a fact, the judge said on Friday. although Studio Powned “probably not [wordt] viewed as an authoritative source for findings of quality research in business services ”, the statements of the“ well-known former criminal lawyer from a family of well-known lawyers ”may have paint a negative picture among viewers of the program about the legal qualities of cousin Yehudi.
Bram Moszkowicz could not prove that this is not good in his work. The fact that he owes his work as a lawyer only to his last name is not at all: he has at least had to meet education and admission requirements. The statement that he is “no man” is, in combination with the other judgments, also unlawful. Moszkowicz only wanted to emphasize his statements. According to the court, he can only rely on his freedom of expression, but “that is not enough in this case”. The court does not consider rectification necessary, because the television audience will have forgotten the broadcast after five years.
Yehudi Moszkowicz is the son of Robert Moszkowicz, Bram’s third brother. The brothers have been at odds with each other for years. Yehudi Moszkowicz (unlike David, Bram and Robert of the older generation) still works as a criminal lawyer.
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