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'Drop charges against Lance'
07/03/2006 19:27 - (SA)
Rome - A defamation lawsuit against Lance Armstrong opened on Tuesday, and the seven-time Tour de France champion's lawyer requested that the charges be dropped.
Italian cyclist Filippo Simeoni brought the charges against Armstrong following an April 2003 report in French daily Le Monde.
In the report, Armstrong contended that Simeoni had agreed to testify against doctor Michele Ferrari in exchange for a lesser penalty if the Italian rider was accused of doping by the sport's governing body.
Ferrari received a suspended jail sentence for a year in October 2004 for sports fraud and malpractice. Ferrari once advised Armstrong, but the star cyclist cut his ties with him after the doctor was convicted.
Armstrong's lawyer Enrico Nan argued that the charges should be dropped because a foreigner should not be held responsible in Italy for comments made to a French newspaper, "even if the Internet can be read anywhere."
Neither Armstrong nor Simeoni were present at the court in Latina, near Rome.
Armstrong has already been cleared in a Lucca court of another case brought against him by Simeoni. In that case, Simeoni had accused Armstrong of threatening him after the American chased Simeoni down during an early stage breakaway in the 2004 Tour de France and reportedly threatened the Italian for testifying about doping in Ferrari's trial.
In addition, a Paris criminal court in January refused to hear a defamation suit brought by Simeoni against Armstrong for his comments to Le Monde. Judicial officials said the statute of limitations had expired and Simeoni's lawyers misinterpreted French law.
Judge Maria Teresa Cialoni will decide on April 13 if the trial in Latina will go forward or not.
- SAPA
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