Supporters of Josef Stalin opened a defamation case in a Moscow court on Friday that critics say is part of a campaign to rehabilitate the Soviet dictator decades after his death.
Stalin's grandson Yevgeny Dzhugashvili is seeking 10 million rubles ($330,000) and a retraction from Ekho Moskvy radio over a claim that Stalin sanctioned the execution of children as young as 12 during the 1930s purges.
The case comes amid emotional debate over Stalin's legacy ahead of celebrations of the 65th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in World War II on May 9.
"The people who want to return us to those years are becoming more active," Ekho Moskvy editor-in-chief Alexei Venediktov said after Friday's hearing at the Presnensky District Court. "There are a mass of people who think that ruling with an iron fist is a good thing."
Critics blame Stalin for millions of deaths in his forced collectivization of farms and in the gulag, and contend that victory came despite mistakes that contributed to an estimated war death toll of 27 million Soviet citizens.
"Even if the court decides against us, it will allow people to listen and reassess Stalin for themselves," said Yury Mukhin, one of three lawyers for Dzhugashvili, who lives in Stalin's native Georgia and did not attend the hearing.
Dzhugashvili lost another defamation suit last October over his grandfather's memory. A Moscow judge rejected his claim that the newspaper Novaya Gazeta had smeared Stalin's name in an article that said he personally ordered the deaths of Soviet citizens.
The accusation at the center of the new trial — that Stalin issued an order sanctioning the shooting of 12-year-olds deemed "enemies of the people" — is more specific, but Venediktov said he was confident that it was accurate.
On Friday, the first day of arguments after two technical hearings, Dzhugashvili's team asked the judge to ignore much recent history as politicized and said Stalin was not responsible for the decisions of Soviet officials and courts.
Venediktov presented the text of a conversation in which Stalin defended the shooting of minors and a list of teenagers shot dead for political crimes under his rule. He also demanded proof that Dzhugashvili was indeed Stalin's biological grandson.
Supporters of Dzhugashvili said the Civil Code allows blood relatives of a dead person to bring such cases to court under clauses governing compensation for so-called moral damages.
The hearing was postponed until April 16 to allow the Ekho Moskvy radio presenter accused of defaming Stalin to attend.
About a dozen elderly communists attended the hearing Friday, some muttering any time Stalin was criticized.
"We are sick of all the lies," said Nina Vlasenko, 79, clutching a book emblazoned with Stalin's portrait. "No one respects Stalin anymore."
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