Alexey Navalny files defamation suit against Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov

Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny has filed a defamation lawsuit against Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov. The claim has been sent to Moscow’s Presnensky District Court, which has yet to set a trial date. 

Spokespeople for the court told MBX Media that Navalny’s lawsuit accuses Peskov of making false and defamatory statements alleging that the opposition figure is “working with CIA specialists.”

Navalny has asked the court to order the Kremlin spokesman to publish a retraction on the presidential administration’s official website no later than 10 days after the court’s decision enters into force. 

Navalny filed the lawsuit over comments Peskov made to the state news agency TASS, which appeared in an article published on October 1.

On October 1, the German newspaper Der Spiegel published an interview with Navalny, in which he said that he holds Vladimir Putin directly responsible for the nerve-agent attack that nearly killed him in August. In comments to journalists later that day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Alexey Navalny of working with Western intelligence agencies, saying specifically that Navalny is currently cooperating with the CIA. Navalny responded by demanding that the Kremlin provide evidence of his “work with CIA specialists” and promised to take Peskov to court.