UK journalist sued by Russian billionaire over Putin book

A British journalist and her publisher are fighting a defamation claim from billionaire Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich over a book about the rise of Russian President Vladimir Putin

LONDON -- A British journalist and her publisher contested a defamation claim in a London court on Wednesday from billionaire Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich over a book about the rise of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Catherine Belton’s book “Putin’s People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and then Took on the West” charts the rise to wealth and power of former KGB agent Putin and his circle of associates after the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union. Belton, a former Financial Times Moscow correspondent, and publisher HarperCollins are being sued at the High Court by the Russian-born Abramovich, who says the book’s claim that he purchased the Chelsea team in 2003 at Putin’s direction is “false and defamatory.” Chelsea, which plays in the Premier League, is one of the world's best-known soccer teams. Abramovich’s lawyer, Hugh Tomlinson, said the book gave the impression the purchase was “part of a scheme to corrupt the West ... aimed at building a blockhold in the U.K. for Russian influence.”