- Title: Hearing open in Russian oligarch's defamation case against Navalny
- Date: 30th May 2017
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (MAY 30, 2017) (REUTERS) RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER ALEXEI NAVALNY AND HIS LEGAL TEAM IN COURTROOM LAPTOP WITH STICKER '2018. NAVALNY.COM' NAVALNY TALKING TO LAWYER RUSSIAN BUSINESSMAN ALISHER USMANOV'S LEGAL TEAM DOCUMENTS ON DESK NAVALNY AND HIS LEGAL TEAM COURT BAILIFF NAVALNY AND HIS LEGAL TEAM PEOPLE IN COURTROOM NAVALNY TALKING TO MEDIA MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER, ALEXEI NAVALNY, SAYING: "We are filing a request, a basic requests, we ask to summon witnesses, we ask for our basic rights to be observed in accordance with the Civil Code (of the Russian Federation). They reject all our requests to summon witnesses and tell us they have nothing to do (with the case)." COURT BUILDING EXTERIOR RUSSIAN FLAG SIGN WITH COURT'S NAME ON BUILDING
- Embargoed: 13th June 2017 11:23
- Keywords: Russia opposition Alexei Navalny Alisher Usmanov olirarch defamation
- Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
- City: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA0016J154QV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A court in Russia on Tuesday (May 30) started hearing of a case on defamation filed by oligarch Alisher Usmanov against opposition leader and prominent anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny.
Usmanov who is a part-owner of British soccer club Arsenal and whose business interests include iron ore producer Metalloinvest, and a major mobile phone operator sued Navalny over his investigation into Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's alleged secret wealth.
The same report included allegations relating to Usmanov. Usmanov, in interviews with Russian media, denied the allegations and accused Navalny of libel.
Navalny's motion to summon Medvedev as a witness was rejected by court. The court also rejected to include national property registry documents - which Navalny says prove link between Medvedev and Usmanov - as evidence in the case.
Navalny has emerged as a major irritant for the Kremlin after thousands of people across Russia attended anti-graft protests he organized in March. He says he plans to run against the Kremlin's candidate in next year's presidential election.
Earlier Navalny had released a report alleging corruption involving Medvedev who dismissed the allegations as politically-motivated "nonsense."
Usmanov himself was not present in court on Tuesday. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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