Russian oligarch Evgeny Prigozhin files libel lawsuit against The Insider
Kremlin-linked catering magnate Evgeny Prigozhin has filed a libel lawsuit with Moscow’s Basmanny District Court against the publication The Insider, says the press service for his company Concord.
Prigozhin’s legal representative, Igor Yeliseyev, told RIA
Novosti that the businessman filed the claim over a joint investigation
published in August 2020. The report profiled a man known by the call sign
“Mazai” who allegedly manages Prigozhin’s affairs in Africa.
In addition to asking the court to recognize the information
contained in the investigation as defamatory, Prigozhin’s lawsuit demands that
the report be taken down within 10 days, and that The Insider publish a
retraction. It also calls for the publication’s editor-in-chief, Roman
Dobrokhotov, and its correspondent Denis Bilunov to publish retractions on
Twitter, for allegedly reposting “false information.”
In addition, Prigozhin is demanding five million rubles
($68,800) in compensation for moral damages.
Spokespeople for the Basmanny District Court told RIA
Novosti that it has yet to receive Prigozhin’s claim.
Earlier in June, Prigozhin filed a lawsuit against the Ekho
Moskvy radio station for referring to him as the “owner of the Wagner PMC”
during a broadcast. In May, the Moscow City Court ordered Meduza to retract a
2016 article about Prigozhin and pay him 80,000 rubles in damages ($1,100 by
today’s exchange rate).
Prigozhin has also filed numerous lawsuits against
opposition politician Alexey Navalny and his associates. Russian courts have
recovered more than 500,000 rubles ($6,875) from Navalny in connection with
these claims, along with 1.5 million rubles ($20,625) from opposition politician
Lyubov Sobol. Russian police have also initiated a criminal libel case against
Navalny’s chief of staff, Leonid Volkov, at Prigozhin’s request.
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