of the audit commission to assist by verifying the accounts of the railway company, the Sverdlovsk Regional Government and the private company that had acted as middleman in the transactions.
12. The third item, at the bottom of the page, was an article entitled "History of the flat on Orshanskaya [Street]. Embezzlement of public funds: a step-by-step guide for beginners" ("История квартирки на Оршанской. Пошаговая стратегия для начинающих казнокрадов"). It described, in chronological order, the financial and real-estate transactions between the railway company and the intermediary company, as well as the orders signed by Mr V. and the sale of the flat to Mr K.'s father.
13. On 12 October 2001 the prosecutor's office of the Sverdlovsk Region, acting on requests from V. and K., initiated criminal proceedings against the applicant for criminal libel and insult disseminated via the media, offences under Articles 129 § 2 and 130 § 2 of the Criminal Code.
14. The investigator commissioned a linguistic and cultural expert examination of the articles in question. On 6 November 2001 the expert came to the conclusion that they contained allegations that V. and K. were homosexuals who had engaged in sexual intercourse in the representative office of the Sverdlovsk Region. The expert considered that the articles had sought to present a negative image of V.:
"Tolerance towards the customs and mores of others is, in general, uncharacteristic of the Russian mentality, which is also evident in the attitude towards "sexual minorities". The Russian popular mindset and the Russian language retain a rigidly negative, rude and discourteous attitude to people of non-traditional sexual orientation (homosexuals and lesbians)."
The expert noted that the author of the first publication had "a preference for emotional value-judgments". The report concluded:
"In this context the information on the sale and purchase of a flat in Moscow at the expense of the budget becomes sensational and seeks to persuade the reader to view V. as a dishonest manager, embezzler of public funds, and, in addition, an immoral person who craves sensual pleasure and physical attraction and is wanton and lustful. The pragmatic aim of the articles... is to undermine [readers'] trust in V. and K. as politicians..."
15. In late November 2001 counsel for the applicant privately commissioned a linguistic expert examination of the articles. The expert found that the word "homosexual" had no negative connotations and, therefore, could not be held to damage or undermine the honour and dignity of others. He noted that Russian society in recent years had become more tolerant towards homosexuality and a disclosure of someone's homosexuality in the mass media was not necessarily damaging to his reputation. Counsel asked the investigator to admit the report in evidence, but her request was refused on the ground that the expert had been a linguist rather than a specialist in cultural studies and thus had not been competent to perform the examination.
16. On 29 and 30 November 2001 the applicant was charged with criminal libel and insult disseminated via the mass media.
17. Following the applicant's indictment, she and her counsel filed a number of requests. They pointed out that the indictment did not identify which information the prosecution considered untrue. As the actual scope of the investigation had been limited to the allegations about V.'s homosexuality, the applicant insisted that its scope be extended to include the misappropriation of budgetary funds. Alternatively, if the charges were to be based exclusively on the allegations about V.'s and K.'s homosexuality, the applicant requested that a medical examination of V. and K. be carried out in order to establish their sexual orientation. On 3 and 28 December 2001 the investigator refused all the request
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