In a sharp slap to the foes of Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a Moscow district court recently ruled that comparing the ultranationalist leader to Adolf Hitler is libelous.
The Tverskoy inter-municipal court, according to the Itar-Tass news service, ruled Sept. 16 that reformist leader Yegor Gaidar and the newspaper Izvestia had libeled the politician when the newspaper published Gaidar’s article, “Betting on Rascals.”
The article included allegations that Zhirinovsky was a fascist and likened him to Hitler, said Itar-Tass.
The court ordered both Gaidar and Izvestia to pay 500,000 rubles — some $217 — to Zhirinovsky.
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