MOSCOW, March 12 (RAPSI) – Moscow’s Tverskoy District Court on Tuesday refused to question three Communist Party lawmakers as part of a defamation dispute between Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska and the party’s leader Gennady Zyuganov, RAPSI reports from the courtroom.

The court thus dismissed a motion lodged by Zyuganov’s attorney Dmitry Agranovsky. However, the court granted his motion to enter forensic linguist findings into the case file.

The next hearing will be held on April 11.

Deripaska filed the lawsuit seeking one million rubles ($15,000) in compensation for moral harm from Zyugankov in late January.

The businessman demands compensation for disparaging remarks about his activity allegedly issued by Zyuganov during the State Duma plenary session on January 9.

According to the Communist leader, the statements were aimed not at insulting Deripaska but at the initiation of a parliamentary inquiry into certain circumstances of the tycoon’s activity.