Life imitates art

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Paracelsus

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Edited By Paracelsus

Who says life never imitates art? I am currently working on a novel where a pair of Russian superheroes are being sued in federal court on civil grounds of wrongful injury.

Today's papers have suggested that relatives of those killed on Malaysian flight MH17 may sue Russian President Vladimir Putin(admittedly NOT a superhero, Russian or otherwise) for alleged support for the separatist "rebels" in the Ukraine who apparently shot down the jet in question in US federal court.

Although I personally would prefer to see Putin(along with crony Yanukovych) in the dock at the Hague based International Criminal Court, the alternative of a civil suit is not all that bad. Firstly unlike a criminal charge whereby the prosecutor/plaintiff must prove his/her case beyond a reasonable doubt, a civil suit relies on a balance of probabilities( ie has a lower burden of proof) and could tie up Putin(or his lawyers) in court for years- and if found guilty, he could have his assets(or those of the RF including his oligarch chums) ,seized, frozen and them distributed to the plaintiffs!

Kind of poetic justice, I'd say!

Anybody else think as I do?

Terry