LONDON: A British journalist and its publisher against claims defamation in the London Court on Wednesday from the Chelsea Football Club billionaire owner Roman Abramovich for a book about the Russian President’s revival of Vladimir Putin.
Catherine Belton’s book “Putin People: How the KGB took back Russia and then took in the West” mapping a rising wealth and power of the former KGB Putin agent and his circle of colleagues after the breakdown of the Soviet Union 1991.
Belton, former Financial Times Moscow correspondent, and HarperCollins publishers are being sued In the High Court by Abramovich born Russia, who said the book claim that he bought the Chelsea team in 2003 in the direction of Putin was “False and slander and slander.” Chelsea, who play in the Premier League, are one of the most famous football teams in the world.
Abramovich’s lawyer Hugh Tomlinson said the book gave the impression of purchasing it “part of the scheme to damage the West …
aims to build a block affected in the UK.” Andrew Caldecott, a lawyer for Belton and HarperCollins, said the book reader would conclude “there was a reason to suspect Mr.
Abramovich acted in the direction of the Kremlin,” rather than that.
This book also includes “firm denial” from someone close to Abramovich, he said.
Free greeting groups have stated alarm in this case, by saying too easy for the rich people to use the British court to silence criticism.
Belton was also required for defamation by Russian state-owned energy company Rosneft.
HarperCollins also faced coat from Russian businessman Mikhail Fridman and Russian bankers Petr Aven, but Tomlinson said on Wednesday that the claim was resolved.
He said the publisher had “agreed to erase all the material in which the action was based on the book edition in the future” and would apologize for not approaching the two men before the publication to comment on statements that showed that they had a connection with the KGB of their careers.
Tomlinson represented Abramovich, Fridman and Aven, but was rejected at the beginning of hearing on Wednesday that there was a “coordination” between prosecution.
He said he had been employed by three people “by chance and fully independent.” Tomlinson denied that the claim of Russian defendant was an attack of freedom of speech and journalism, on the grounds that the book “holds himself as a serious work of contemporary history, but unfortunately it repeats lazy inaccuracy.” The trial in front of Judge Amanda Tipple is scheduled for the last two days.