Indeed, the plaintiff emphasized in his affidavit the title of the reports (paragraph 4 of the affidavit), and claimed that this information was misleading: "It should be emphasized that the defendants misled me when they published misleading information about the discovery of significant signs of oil" (paragraph 5 of the plaintiff's affidavit). But at the same time, he also claimed that serious problems in the drilling were hidden in the report: "... On the other hand, I did not know that the company had concealed material information that there were serious problems in the drilling and that these were false reports" (paragraph 5 of the affidavit, emphases in original, M.R.).
- Their view that the plaintiff's "true" claim was that the deception against him was that it was published about significant signs of oil but in fact no oil was found, the defendants base their testimony on his testimony (p. 13, 1-15):
Q: Do you confirm to me that your claim is that you were misled into reporting to the public that they had found significant signs of oil, when in fact there was no oil?
A: Right, I want to confirm what I'm saying, that they published on the subject of oil, and that misled the public. That's what I think. If you quote me, then define that it was about oil.
Q: I quoted accurately.
A: Don't try to divert it in any other direction. We are in court. Say exactly. Don't try to extract interpretations from me.
Q: What were the words that misled you?
A: Do I have to remember the text you wrote?
Q: I read from your affidavit, your words. You said about 10 minutes ago that you checked the affidavit before you signed it. Your words that misled you by reporting significant signs of oil. Are these your words?
A: Yes
Q: The deception is that there was actually no oil?
A: Indeed, there was not."
In my opinion, even in these words, the plaintiff did not confirm the position presented by the defendants, and in any event, a perusal of the further testimony shows that the plaintiff clarified that this claim is inaccurate (page 14, paras. 4-8):