London High Court Finds Claims in 'Putin Book' About Roman Abramovich Defamatory

© Sputnik / Evgeniya Novozhenina  / Go to the mediabankRoman Abramovich
Roman Abramovich - Sputnik International, 1920, 24.11.2021
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Judge Amanda Tipples said in a Wednesday ruling that a book by a former Financial Times' Moscow correspondent contained “defamatory” allegations about Roman Abramovich and presented them as fact, not opinion.
"Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On The West" by Catherine Belton alleges that Russian President Vladimir Putin has overseen vast amounts of money being pumped out of Russia to secure influence abroad.
This, according to the book published by HarperCollins, includes the purchase of Chelsea Football Club in 2003 by Abramovich.
The judge called these allegations "defamatory of the claimant," whose spokesperson said "we welcome today's judgement" and called for the "false and defamatory claims about Mr. Abramovich to be corrected as soon as possible."
Passages from the book allege that Abramovich is "under the control of President Vladimir Putin" and "has had to make the fortune from his business empire available for the use of President Putin and his regime."
Another defamatory claim the book makes, mentioned by the judge, is that Abramovich played the role of "cashier" for Putin.

The rulings concerned Tipples’ interpretation of how parts of the books would be understood by ordinary readers, not if they were true or not.
Roman Abramovich - Sputnik International, 1920, 13.02.2021
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Initial hearings took place in July, when the claimants’ lawyers presented the court with lists of statements in the book they found offensive.
This came after initial hearings in July when lawyers for the claimants, Abramovich and Russian oil company Rosneft, presented the judge with a lists of what they said were offending passages in the book.
Among the sources quoted by the book include exiled Russian billionaire Sergei Pugachev.
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