Moscow's Presnensky Court has rejected a libel lawsuit filed by pro-Kremlin social conservative Sergei Kurginyan against liberal opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, the latter said in his blog.
Kurginyan has sought to refute Nemtsov's statement that he runs a fund registered in Cyprus and claimed compensation. The court confirmed that Kurginyan has a fund in Cyprus, the opposition politician said on Friday.
Nemtsov urged his opponent to deliver on his earlier promise to leave politics if someone proves he has a Cypriot fund. He also posted an October 2012 video in which Kurginyan said that he has a fund on the island.
Kurginyan confirmed in a video posted on YouTube that the court had sided with Nemtsov. But he said that the Cypriot organization was a representative office of his Moscow fund, rather than a separate legal entity, and accused Nemtsov of lying.
The Presnensky Court was not available for comment.
In March Nemtsov ridiculed Kurginyan for combining his anti-Western and anti-capitalist rhetoric with allegedly running a fund in an offshore haven.
Kurginyan, leader of the Sut Vremeni (Essence of Time) movement, has positioned himself as an anti-Western activist and supported the Kremlin's efforts to ban U.S. citizens from adopting Russian children. He also actively participated in a key pro-Putin rally in February 2012.
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