Newspaper angers Putin, suddenly closes
By Leah McBride Mensching, Monday 21 April 2008 at 23:54 :: Press Freedom & Laws :: #1558 :: rss
A newspaper that reported rumours of a marriage between Vladimir Putin and a 24-year-old gymnast has closed the day following the report, after the Russian president told journalists the reports were unacceptable, The Independent reported Monday.
Moskovsky Korrespondent first reported the affair, but Putin denied he and his wife Ludmilla divorced, and thathe is to wed Alina Kabaeva. Meanwhile, the newspaper's editorial team said the story had no factual basis.
Alexander Lebedev, the paper's owner, said the story was “nonsense,” and that the newspaper is being “temporarily halted” due to its not being profitable. He also said there was no political reason to close the paper, The Independent reported.
Lebedev also co-owns the Novaya Gazeta, the newspaper assassinated journalist Anna Politkovskaya worked, and there have been “suggestions the incident may have been an attempt to set up Mr Lebedev by hardliners involved in a Kremlin turf war,” according to The Independent.
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