Russian opposition sues Putin for slander

MOSCOW - Russian opposition politicians have sued Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for slander and demanded that he pay them one million rubles ($32,700) in damages, former deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov said.

Nemtsov pointed to statements Putin had made recently during an annual live television question-and-answer session, in which he accused opposition figures of having stolen billions of rubles from Russia along with the exiled oligarch Boris Berezovsky.

“That is a lie and defamation,” Nemtsov told Interfax news agency Thursday, also demanding an apology from Putin.

The premier’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Opposition politicians such as Nemtsov are only interested in power and money, Putin had argued during the Dec 16 broadcast.

“They have spent everything and now they want to come back and line their own pockets,” he said.

“I think that if we allow that, they will not focus on a few billions. They will sell off all of Russia,” he added.

The accused had retorted that Putin’s corrupt system with its authoritarian structures is destroying the country.