in 2008, a judgment was obtained from the high court of justice in london after obozrevatel, a ukrainian language internet publication refused to retract false and libelous statements alleging that mr. akhmetov was connected to criminal activity and violence. the obozrevatel reporter (tetiana chornovol) interviewed his former classmates and neighbors, and delved into his early years. following court pressure obozrevatel issued an official apology stating: "the editorial hereby admits that there was unchecked and false information about rinat akhmetov present in the … articles … we hereby give our apologies to rinat akhmetov for the problems resulted from the above-mentioned publications." tetiana chornovol, who has political ambitions, refused to issue an apology or acknowledge any wrongdoing.