MOSCOW, June 22 (UPI) -- A Moscow court has ruled in a defamation lawsuit that Russian journalist Oleg Kashin has the right to speculate about who ordered his near fatal beating.
Vasily Yakemenko, the Kremlin's youth policy chief, filed a libel suit against Kashin after he wrote on his blog that Yakemenko had masterminded the Nov. 6 assault, The Moscow Times reported Wednesday.
Yakemenko sued Kashin along with the liberal newspaper Noviye Izvestia and political analyst Alexander Morozov for reporting his theory.
The youth policy chief sought $17,500 from each of the defendants.
In ruling on the suit, Judge Igor Kananovich said Yakemenko failed to prove that the accusation was a factual statement and not an opinion.
It is unclear whether Yakemenko will appear the ruling.
His lawyer said a decision will be made next week.
Kashin spent five days in a medically induced coma after being attacked outside his apartment by two men who concealed metal rods in bouquets of flowers.
