'German ARD TV will go any length to win case against Russian athlete'

German TV channel ARD will go to any lengths to win the defamation lawsuit filed by Russian athlete Kristina Ugarova against it, her lawyer Alexander Karabanov has said.

The Dorogomilovsky Court of Moscow is set to hold hearings on November 11 on a lawsuit on the protection of honour and dignity of Russian runner Ugarova, who insists that the TV channel aired slander against her.

"This hearing is viewed by the German side as crucial," Karabanov said on Tuesday.

"If we win this lawsuit, we will knock out the very first pylon standing in support of all doping scandals in Russian sports."

"According to information we have, the German side allocated good money to win in the court," Karabanov added.

"First, these people make a fabricated film and now they are trying to cover up for their lies. According to our information, the German side is trying to somehow reach judges and make them influence the course of the hearing."

Ugarova said on Monday that her interview used in one of the parts of the German series of documentaries was misinterpreted.

The athlete said she was speaking about one matter in the recording used by ARD, but the translation used in the film voiced another matter on purpose.

"In other words, the authors of the film made their own conjectures about what I was actually speaking about, which is a direct violation," she said.

"In case our lawsuit is satisfied in Moscow, we will be turning to international courts."

Russian ex-doping official Vitaly Stepanov and his wife, Russian runner Yulia Stepanova, were in the centre of a series of documentaries on alleged doping abuse in Russian sports aired by German TV Channel ARD in December 2014.

--IANS

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