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Polonsky remains imprisoned in Cambodia

It was reported earlier that the businessman and another two Russians were detained on accusations of the use of violence against six local sailors

BANGKOK, January 5 (Itar-Tass) — Russian businessman Sergei Polonsky remains imprisoned in the Cambodian resort town of Sihanoukville, the entrepreneur’s entourage told Itar-Tass.

According to earlier reports, Polonsky has been released in his own custody.

Polonsky was detained by Cambodian police on December 31, 2012. It was reported earlier that the businessman and another two Russians were detained on accusations of the use of violence against six local sailors.

“Sergei Polonsky celebrated the New Year with his friends on an inhabited island in Cambodia. The festive fireworks drew attention of the servicemen, whose military base was situated on the neighbouring island. The servicemen arrived on the island to check the identity documents, which the vacationers lacked,” he wrote down in his posting. “Sergei Polonsky offered to bring him on his island to produce his identity documents. The military rudely refused to him and brought to the military base by force to identify him,” he said.

“This behaviour of the servicemen stirred up a harsh response of emotionally-driven Sergei Polonsky,” his posting runs.

“Sergei Polonsky has been released in his own custody. He is about to face charges for hooliganism. A local lawyer appeals this accusation, because the mutual misunderstanding is obvious. The Cambodian authorities do not speak either English or Russian, and no vacationers can speak the Khmer language,” Polonsky said.

Cambodian police spokesman Kheng Tito said the 40-year-old businessman and other two Russian citizens aged of 24 and 25 were being suspected of that they detained sailors under pressure and threatened them to use violence. The yacht crewmembers said the detainees had drawn the knife. Then the crewmembers were locked at the cabin and the toilet, were made to jump into the water.