MOSCOW, June 18 (RAPSI) - The Lyublinsky District Court of Moscow on Wednesday postponed until June 30 the hearing of a defamation lawsuit filed by Igor Rudensky, head of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy, against opposition activist and anti-corruption crusader Alexei Navalny, RAPSI reports from the courtroom.
According to the lawmaker’s press office, the information conveyed by Navalny in November 2013 was a subject of filing a lawsuit. Navalny stated that Rudensky in 2012 allegedly failed to declare land property he owns in the Moscow Region, thus violating the law. This issue has been considered at the meeting of the State Duma Committee for the control of the lawmakers’ income and expenditure and no violations have been detected.
Rudensky demands to find the disseminated information untrue and compel the defendant to refute the statements. However, the plaintiff has not filed a compensation claim.
Navalny ran for Moscow mayor in 2013, losing to the Kremlin-backed incumbent, but boosting his public exposure through a vigorous grassroots campaign. He gained just over 27 percent of the vote, well above what initial polls suggested he would get.
Navalny has been placed under a house arrest since March 28, and is prohibited from using the Internet after restriction measures were imposed on him as a part of the Yves Rocher embezzlement case.
Navalny and his brother Oleg stand accused in a fraud case involving cosmetics company Yves Rocher Vostok. Investigators allege that the Navalny brothers embezzled upwards of 26 million rubles (over $745,000) from the cosmetics company, as well as upwards of 4 million rubles (over $114,000) from the Multidisciplinary Processing Company by way of a fraud scheme. The brothers were further charged with having laundered 21 million rubles.
Alexei Navalny has already been given a suspended sentence of five years for the embezzlement of funds owned by Kirovles company.