ORLOVSKAYA ISKRA v. RUSSIA JUDGMENT 29 to identify “campaigning” aims in the activities of the mass media: dissemination of adverse information without taking adequate measures to verify it approaching the person referred to; blurring of the line between opinions and established fact; violation of the Declaration of Principles on the Conduct of Journalists, including reporting only in accordance with facts of which the journalist knows the origin, the use of fair methods to obtain information, and doing the utmost to rectify any published information which is found to be harmfully inaccurate. 88. The courts had given a careful assessment of the pertinent factual and legal aspects of the case, relying in particular on the Working Group report of 17 November 2007 (see paragraph 11 above). The applicant organisation had received the smallest statutory fine, which was far less harsh than a criminal penalty, such as detention. 89. The administrative offence liability pursued the aim of protecting the reputations and rights of others, because “campaigning” activities which did not indicate the nature of the publication or its sponsorship could have misled voters. The applicable regulatory framework was aimed at preventing the use of print or broadcast media for campaigns against candidates. Such practices would violate both the rights of other candidates who respected the expenditure rules, and the rights of voters. (b) The applicant organisation 90. The applicant organisation submitted that the ambiguity of the distinction between acceptable information for voters and “campaigning” allowed for a selective application of the legislative framework to spur opposition, in particular by way of administrative offence liability for non-compliance with the special rules relating to “campaigning”. The impugned publications contained critical assessments of Mr S.’s record as regional governor, including during the election campaign in 2007. During this campaign, he had not taken temporary leave from the office of governor while leading the list of candidates for his political party. Therefore, there had been no reason for an electoral bloc or a party to pay for such publications. (c) Third-party submissions 91. The joint submissions made by the Media Legal Defence Initiative (London, United Kingdom) and the Mass Media Defence Centre (Voronezh, Russia) may be summarised as follows. The media in the United Kingdom, France and Germany are subject to laws of general application, including in times of elections. 92. State regulation of the print media in the UK is essentially limited to laws that restrict content (defamation, privacy and contempt of court), while self-regulation is done via the Press Complaints Commission. The print media are not required to be neutral or objective in their reporting, being