MOSCOW, May 23 (RAPSI) - The Khamovnichesky Court of Moscow will hear a $1 million damages claim against Ren TV filed by the wife of Viktor Bout, who is serving a 25 year sentence in the United States, on June 10, court press secretary Darya Lyakh told RAPSI.
The co-litigants in the case are companies Accept (Ren TV) and United Media: Creative and Production House.
The network aired a documentary entitled "The Mafia of the Soviet Union" in November 2012 which referred to Viktor Bout as a "Lord of War" and a Russian mob boss.
Alla Bout has asked the court to rule that the reference to her husband in the documentary is libel and to order the network to retract it. She is also seeking moral damages in the amount of $1 million.
Ms. Bout initially filed her lawsuit on April 9, but the court sent it back for review.
Bout was convicted in November 2011 of conspiracy to murder US nationals, including military officers and employees, and of selling millions of dollars' worth of weapons, including hundreds of portable surface-to-air missiles and over 20,000 AK-47s, to the Colombian rebel group FARC.
He has consistently denied the charges against him. Russia attempted to have Bout extradited from the United States in line with the 1983 Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, but without success.
Bout's story gained popular notoriety through the success of the Hollywood blockbuster Lord of War, a story that is said to be loosely based on Bout's life.