Court allows lawsuit against richest Russian

By Peter Graff

LONDON (Reuters) - A businessman won the right on Thursday to sue Russia's richest man for $4 billion (2 billion pounds) in court, after a judge ruled he might be assassinated or held on trumped-up charges if he tried to bring the case in Russia.

The ruling, in which the judge cast doubt on the integrity of the Russian legal system, could further strain relations between Moscow and London, which have been at a post-Cold War low.

Israel-based Russian entrepreneur Michael Cherney accuses his former business partner Oleg Deripaska of failing to honour a business deal worth billions.

Deripaska, an aluminium baron and one of Russia's most powerful oligarchs, denies the allegations and says the case should be heard in Russia.

High Court Judge Christopher Clarke accepted Cherney's argument that his life and freedom would be at risk in Russia, and a trial there might not be fair.

"I am persuaded that the risks inherent in a trial in Russia -- assassination, arrest on trumped-up charges and lack of a fair trial -- are sufficient to make England the forum in which the case can most suitably be tried in the interests of both parties and the ends of justice," the judge ruled.

There was "a significant risk" that Cherney, 56, would not obtain a trial in Russia "unaffected by improper interference by state actors and that substantial justice may not be done".

Cherney says he agreed in 2001 to exchange shares in the Russian aluminium company SibAl for cash and a 20 percent share in a new Russian aluminium giant, Rusal. He accuses Deripaska of failing to honour the deal.