A court in Kazakhstan has turned down a lawsuit from a grandmother against a Russian diplomat whom she accuses of running over her 4-year-old granddaughter, the local Vremya newspaper said on Saturday.
Vera Smetanina and her granddaughter were returning from a walk in a park in the city of Almaty on May 1 and decided to look at electric cars at a local fun fair when Andrei Mamayev of the Russian general consulate suddenly started one of the cars and ran the girl over.
The child was hospitalized with serious injuries. Mamayev, who has diplomatic immunity against criminal prosecution, denied all accusations, saying the car jumpstarted after he turned on the engine.
The court said Smetanina's request to court was improperly formulated.
