MOSCOW, July 16 (RAPSI) – Tverskoy District Court in Moscow has accepted a 100 million ruble ($2.9 million) lawsuit against Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky for harming the reputation of the Azerbaijani people, the court’s press secretary, Yekaterina Krotova, told RAPSI.

The lawsuit was filed by Sadik and Elmira Mamedovs and requires Zhirinovsky to publicly retract his defamatory statement and pay 50 million rubles ($1.45 million) to each plaintiff in moral damages.

The State Duma has been named a co-defendant, because Zhirinovsky made the slanderous statement when addressing the lower house.

Vladimir Zhirinovsky is well known for his harsh statements and eccentric behavior. During a meeting with the press in April, he insulted a Rossiya Segodnya journalist and other journalists who spoke up in her defense. The journalist, who was pregnant at the time, was later taken to a hospital for treatment.

Two days later, Zhirinovsky said during a show on the Rossiya 1 TV channel that he was “a bit rough on the girl” who “turned out to be pregnant” and apologized to her “and anyone else he might have offended.” However, the journalist decided to take the matter to court and her employer, Rossiya Segodnya, has supported her decision.