A Moscow court tossed out investigative journalist Oleg Kashin's lawsuit over Russian authorities' failure to find two individuals who severely beat him on a street in 2010, state news agency RIA Novosti reported Thursday.
Kashin had sued the Finance Ministry — the government body responsible for giving out financial compensation for illegal acts by Russian authorities — for 500,000 rubles ($8,000) because an investigation into the beating has been inconclusive despite taking several years.
The court decided to throw out the lawsuit without Kashin or his lawyer present, the report said.
Representatives of the Finance Ministry, the Prosecutor's Office and the Investigative Committee were also reportedly absent from the hearing.
Judge Mikhail Kazakov claimed that Kashin's lawsuit was rejected because the investigation into his beating was ongoing, having been extended to April 6, the Lenta.ru news site reported. Kashin has 15 days to appeal the decision.
Kashin also filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights late last year against Russian investigators.
Kashin, a former reporter with prominent business newspaper Kommersant, was nearly beaten to death by two unidentified assailants outside his Moscow apartment in November 2010. At the time of the incident, then-President Dmitry Medvedev pledged that Kashin's attackers would face justice.
