HANOI, January 13. /ITAR-TASS/. A Cambodian court ruled in Phnom Penh on Monday to terminate a criminal case against Russian business tycoon Sergey Polonsky accused of an attack on local sailors. The businessman, who had been kept at a detention centre in the Cambodian capital for the last few months, was released on recognizance not to leave the city before the hearings of Russia’s extradition request for him, a source familiarized with the affair of the businessman told Itar-Tass.

“The court ruled to lift from Polonsky the charges of deprivation of freedom and beating of Cambodian citizens, as the injured parties revoked their lawsuits against him,” the source said. Meanwhile, the court could not hear Russia’s extradition request for him, because it did not receive all necessary documents from Russia, the source said.

 

The incident

The criminal case was opened against Polonsky over an incident onboard the ship, which was bringing the businessman and his friends on the coast after a trip to the island on December 30, 2012.

The sailors noted that Polonsky and his two companions being drunk and threatening with knives locked up the ship crew of six sailors in the hold and then made them jump in the sea. During the investigation, the injured parties revoked their lawsuits in exchange for compensation paid to them. However, according to Cambodian laws, the criminal case could not have been terminated automatically, as the court was to lift the charges from the suspects.

 

Fraud case in Russia

In October 2013, Polonsky was put on Interpol wanted list at a request from the Russian Interior Ministry. Russia has made an extradition request for the businessman in Cambodia. In Russia, the business tycoon is a defendant in more than 5.7 billion ruble fraud ($171.6 million). Tverskoy court in Moscow accused in absentia Polonsky of a massive fraud committed by an organized criminal group. Eighty defrauded depositors are considered as injured parties in the criminal case, as the latter invested their money in the construction of the residential district “Kutuzovskaya Mile” in Moscow.