JUNE 12, 2007
Posted June 26, 2007
Kommersant
LEGAL ACTION
On June 12, the Moscow City Court upheld an earlier verdict by Tverskoi District Court in Moscow and pronounced the independent business daily Kommersant guilty of defaming Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov.
Kommersant was ordered to pay 120 000 rubles (US$4.600) in damages and publish a disclaimer of a June 2006 story headlined, “The Commandant of Chechnya.” Kadyrov, argued that Kommersant’s article harmed his honor and dignity. The Tverskoy District Court in Moscow ruled in his favor on February 7, 2007.
The coverage included comments from several politicians critical of Kadyrov. Kommersant Editor-in-Chief Andrei Vasiliyev told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti that the lawsuit would not influence the newspaper’s work.