A Moscow court fined the head of a consumer rights group 100,000 rubles (about $3,200) yesterday for libeling a Russian religious foundation, the RIA Novosti (Russian) website reports today (May 18, 2013).
In an interview with Novaya Gazeta last September, Mikhail Anshakov -- the head of Russia's consumer rights watchdog -- claimed the Christ the Savior Orthodox Cathedral in downtown Moscow housed a business center including the offices of 15 commercial firms, a tire-changing service, a dry-cleaners, a parking lot, a cafeteria, and jewelry shops.
Anshakov also accused Russian Orthodox Church head Patriarch Kirill of "trading in the House of God" and appealed to the state prosecutor to investigate what he said was the inappropriate use of the cathedral by the Christ the Savior Cathedral Foundation, which oversees trade at the church.
The appeal was unsuccessful, and the Cathedral Foundation's head, Vasily Poddevalin, accused Anshakov of libel. Anshakov -- who was not present in Moscow's Presnensky District Court yesterday -- denied he committed libel, and said he had only passed judgment, which was not subject to prosecution.
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