This one has to be a candidate for the most insane lawsuit of all-time (if only by the body count). Eurasianet reports: "Evgeni Jughashvili, grandson of Georgia-born Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, has filed a lawsuit against the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, claiming that the periodical published material that damaged the 'dignity and honor' of Stalin's family. Citing fresh archival sources, a July 22 story in Novaya Gazeta that Stalin personally signed mass execution orders for the 1940 Katyn massacre in Poland. Jughashvili claimed that the article smeared the name of his grandfather."
You can read the libelous insult here.
In most countries, Jughashvili's case would be thrown out of court. By the same legal reasoning, someone could sue the Holocaust Museum for besmirching Hitler’s good name. But the Kremlin is despratly trying to rehabilitate Stalin's image these days.
Jughashvili might just succeed.
2 comments:
This is a rather intriguing lawsuit. I am unfamiliar with Russian law, but I know a thing or two about US law. I am wondering if there is someone in cyberspace who might be able to tell me what Stalin's grandson must prove to win.
In the US, you cannot defame a dead guy. He's dead. He has no injury or loss because he is dead. Also you cannot be defamed if the statement is true. Moreover, due to 1st Amendment protection, it is very hard to sue a newspaper. How can this guy win, besides rigging the court?
Since this affair is this very much concerning, I am pretty interested on following it in order ti find out what will happen.
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