MOSCOW, April 13 (RAPSI) - Opposition activist Alexei Navalny filed an application with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) after he lost a libel suit lodged against him by Moscow deputy mayor Maxim Liksutov, RIA Novosti reported on Monday, citing Navalny’s lawyer Damir Gainutdinov.

He says that during the dispute between Navalny and Liksutov, Navalny’s rights to freedom of speech and a fair trial were violated.

Last year, Navalny, known for exposing public officials, published allegations in his blog that Liksutov and his wife owned foreign assets. Liksutov claimed that he in fact was a shareholder of a company in Cyprus but had submitted his resignation to the shareholders’ board back in 2012.

The deputy mayor filed a lawsuit against Navalny and won 600,000 rubles ($11,400). The Moscow City Court later upheld the verdict.

According to the Moscow Mayor’s Office, Liksutov earned 14.49 million rubles ($276,000) in 2014, which is the largest income among the deputy mayors.