UPDATE: Court Exiles Stalin's Grandson's Libel Suit

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The Associated Press reported yesterday that Yevgeny Dzhugashvili's defamation suit against the Novaya Gazeta newspaper for publishing an article April 22, 2009, that branded Yevgeny's grandpa, Josef Stalin, a "bloody cannibal" who sent thousands of his fellow Soviets to their deaths has been dismissed. (See "TUOL" post 9/9/2009.)

The Gazeta's article, which was based on a review of declassified Soviet documents, prompted the libel suit that was prosecuted by Stalinist Leonid Zhura, who encouraged Yevgeny to pursue the claim to clear the name of Stalin, whose reign over the Soviet Union lasted 25 years.

Yevgeny has five days in which to file an appeal.