MINNEAPOLIS,  Dec. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Stop The Petters Scam Foundation, a Minnesota  non-profit corporation, today filed a lawsuit against the Star-Tribune  Company alleging breach of contract and related charges, and against 30  unknown "Doe" defendants for interference with contractual relations and  related charges.
The Foundation's lawsuit  asserts that the Star-Tribune "admittedly was pressured by certain  unidentified persons to abruptly stop the publication" of a series of 15  advertisements that it had contracted to publish. Although the  Star-Tribune agreed to run all the ads and accepted payment for them, it  "apparently succumbed to pressure from as yet unknown powerful  interests, and breached a fully executed oral agreement and abandoned  its journalistic obligation to educate and enlighten its readers," the  lawsuit states.
"Ultimately, this lawsuit  is about the value of free speech in America," said Garrett Vail,  president of the Foundation. "The Star-Tribune concedes that they  received pressure to halt our ad series. The public has a right to learn  what's been going on in the handling of the Petters assets. Somebody  doesn't want us to continue asking questions and raising embarrassing  facts. We intend to identify who pressured the newspaper, and hold them  and the Star-Tribune accountable."