The independent-leaning Dozhd TV news channel is being investigated for slander over a film linking a Russian businessman suspected of mafia connections to President Vladimir Putin.
Dozhd TV named businessman Ilya Traber as “the only living kingpin who Putin has admitted to knowing” in a documentary aired last year on the construction of an alleged “secret dacha.” Traber was placed on an Interpol wanted list at the request of Spanish authorities in 2016 on suspicions of links to organized crime and money laundering.
St. Petersburg police opened a defamation case against Dozhd TV in November, three sources familiar with the case told the Bell business news website on Tuesday.
Dozhd director Natalia Sindeyeva told the Bell that law enforcement had requested for the filmmakers to appear at the police station. She added the network does not know the identity of the plaintiff.
