In LGBT activists' lawsuit, Court involves journalist of "Novaya Gazeta" into trial

The Basmanny Court of Moscow has postponed to July 5 a hearing on the lawsuit filed by activists of the movement "GayRussia" against the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta". The Court has decided to involve in the lawsuit an author of an article about the persecution of gays in Chechnya.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 18, it became known that activists of the movement "GayRussia" filed a lawsuit on protection of honour and dignity to the Basmanny District Court of Moscow against the "Novaya Gazeta" and demanded to oblige the newspaper to pay the amount of one million roubles for compensation of moral damage. The plaintiffs treated as defamatory the statement that the filing of notifications for holding gay pride parades in the regions of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) had allegedly provoked large-scale raids in Chechnya.

The claim was filed by Nikolai Alekseev, a founder of the movement "GayRussia". The court hearing was postponed because of the Court's decision to involve journalist Elena Milashina to the lawsuit as a third person, the RIA "Novosti" reports.

It should be noted that on April 18, Elena Milashina mentioned the lawsuit against the "Novaya Gazeta" as the right move, since the Court "should first prove the fact of the persecution of homosexuals in Chechnya."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.