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Preliminary hearing of civil suit against Madonna postponed

The preliminary hearing of the civil suit against the pop singer was postponed till October 25
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

ST PETERSBURG, October 11 (Itar-Tass) —— The first meeting in St Petersburg’s Moskovsky district Court on Thursday on the 333 million ruble civil suit filed by nine residents of St Petersburg against pop singer Madonna did not make a sensation. Two of the respondents mentioned in the suit, including the pop singer’s representative, did not show up in the court, while two others said they had nothing to do with the scandalous show of the pop star that prompted the lawsuit.

The preliminary hearing of the civil suit against the pop singer was postponed till October 25.

At the court meeting on Thursday open to the press representatives of Muzykalnaya Industriya company and of Petersburg Muzykalnaya Industriya –media said they were no respondents under the suit.

Madonna’s representatives were not present in the court. Representatives of the Petersburg Sports and Concert Complex where Madonna performed on August 9 ignored the court summons either. Lawyer Alexander Pochuyev, representing the interests of the plaintiffs, said that the court and the plaintiffs were not sure that Madonna had been notified of the lawsuit, while the administration of the Sports and Concert Complex, that was mentioned as the correspondent, had been notified of the hearings in due procedure. Justice Barkovsky addressed a request to the Moscow chain of Hard Candy fitness clubs owned by Madonna so that she be informed of the time and place of the preliminary hearings. ”The plaintiffs and the court have done all so that Madonna could be able to state her views on the matter,” Pochuyev said. He said the materials of the case had been translated into English and sent to Madonna’s New York address.

Prior to the beginning of the court meeting, Darya Dedova, the press secretary of the Trade Union of Citizens of Russia, whose activists brought the lawsuit against Madonna, set out the plaintiff’s stand. “We hope it is understood what dangers the August 9 events pose,” she said. “This breach is of much harm to society.” The plaintiffs had earlier said that the singer broke local law by supporting Russian sex minorities during her show. Administrative responsibility was introduced in St Petersburg from March 2012 for propaganda of homosexuality and non-traditional forms of love among minors and for propaganda of pedophilia.

“In our opinion, propaganda of homosexuality did take place,” Dedova said. The plaintiffs say this was a planned action. The singer had the sign “No Fear” at the back of her stage costume, and there was the same sign on the rainbow-colored flag of gay- activists in the hall. “This amounts to an unsanctioned rally,” Dedova said

She said the suit to 333 million rubles was a sum large enough to touch Madonna in the pocket, just as the organizers of the concert. Should the plaintiffs win the case, the sum will go to support motherhood and childhood. The lawsuit was filed in the Moskovsky District Court on August 17, a week since the concert.