In Vladikavkaz, court finds blogger guilty of libel

Today, the federal judge of the Lenin District Court of Vladikavkaz pronounced the decision in favour of journalist Lora Tskaeva, who filed a lawsuit against Alexander Pikalev, the cleric of St. George's Cathedral, the blogger of the "Livejournal".

Lora Tskaeva filed the lawsuit against Alexander Pikalev as the author of remarks, which, according to her, insulted her honour and dignity.

In his blog on the "Livejournal", Alexander Pikalev has launched a discussion of professional and personal qualities of the journalist, saying that she lied about the fact of her telephone conversation with the elder Elijah, the confessor of Patriarch Kirill, the celebrant of the Russian Orthodox Church, the website "15^th Region" reports.

The court has ordered that Alexander Pikalev should remove from his blog entries that had been recognized as those discrediting honour, dignity and business reputation of Lora Tskaeva, refute the false information and pay moral damages in the amount of 30,000 roubles, the "Ekho Kavkaza" (Echo of the Caucasus) reports.

After the court session, Alexander Pikalev himself in his blog has noted that the court's decision did not come into effect and that he would challenge it.