HANOI, March 17 (Itar-Tass) – Arrested in Cambodia after a conflict with local sailors Russian businessman Sergei Polonsky asked the Russian Foreign Ministry to give psychological aid to him. “Over the misunderstanding caused by contradictory and mutually exclusive information from Moscow, I ask the Russian Foreign Ministry to give the medical aid to me by a qualified psychologist certified by the Russian Foreign Ministry as quickly as possible,” Polonsky said in an address, which was posted in his internet blog.
The incident, which entailed the arrest of the businessman and his companions Konstantin Baglai and Alexander Karachinsky, occurred on December 30 onboard the vessel, which brought three Russian citizens to the shore after a trip on the islands. The crew of six sailors said that Polonsky and his companions in the state of drunkenness and threatening with the knives locked them up in the hold, then forced them jump in the sea. The Russian citizens rejected strongly these accusations and insist that just an insignificant conflict had emerged between them and the sailors over the language barrier.
On the previous week the municipal court in the city Sihanoukville, which is investigating the incident, passed a ruling to transfer Baglai and Karachinsky in the category of witnesses. The judge-investigator also ruled to release them temporarily until a court session on recognizance not to leave the city. Polonsky was left under arrest.
Despite the fact that at the beginning of the investigation the reported injured parties from the actions of the Russian citizens revoked their lawsuits in exchange for the apologies given to them and the monetary compensation paid to them for moral damages. However, according to the local laws, the criminal case, which was opened against Polonsky and his companions, cannot be terminated automatically, as the court is to pass a ruling to terminate the criminal case upon the results of the trial.