Thread: UK Newspaper Owner Punches TV Show Rival

The Russian billionaire owner of two British newspapers has punched a fellow guest in the face on a TV show - knocking him off his chair.

Alexander Lebedev, owner of the Independent and the Evening Standard, floored ex-property developer baron Sergei Polonsky during a debate on Russia within the global financial crisis.
A stunned audience watches as the former KGB agent, who made a fortune in banking, land a right jab to Mr Polonsky's face.
Mr Polonsky is knocked from his chair and tumbles off the back of the studio's elevated platform.



The punch was thrown seconds after Mr Polonsky told other guests he wanted to "stick one in the mouth".
On his blog, Mr Lebedev justified the assault by saying Mr Polonsky had behaved in an aggressive, threatening manner throughout the debate.
"In a critical situation, there is no choice. I see no reason to be hit with the first shot. I neutralised him," he said.
Mr Polonsky, who used to head the Mirax Group property firm, got up quickly and did not appear injured.
However, he later published online pictures of a cut on his arm and his torn trousers.


Fight Fail: Alexander Lebedev - Russian Owner Of Express and Independent Punches Sergei Polonsky | World News | Sky News

Well. i might buy the Independent on Monday.....so it worked from that angle !

the former KGB agent

you can take the man out of the kgb, but you can never take... etc.etc.etc.

Jerry Springerov ?

Russian tycoon's friends released on bail hide on the Thai border


© AFP 2013

MOSCOW, March 27 - RAPSI. Russian nationals Konstantin Baglay and Alexander Karachinsky, who were arrested together with businessman Sergei Polonsky in Cambodia in late December 2012 and released on bail by the Sihanoukville court in early March, have written on their Facebook accounts that they are hiding "on the border with Thailand."

They claim that they are keeping to the conditions set by those who released them, who also promised to release Polonsky.

Polonsky's Russian lawyer Alexander Dobrovinsky said he cannot predict how this development may affect his client.

Sergei Polonsky, a real estate developer and once one of Russia's richest men, and his friends Konstantin Baglay and Alexander Karachinsky were arrested on December 30, 2012, for allegedly attacking the six-man crew of a boat which was ferrying them from a Cambodian island to the mainland. They allegedly threatened the crew with a knife and locked them in a cabin.

Earlier, Polonsky appealed to the State Duma to consider setting up a commission to investigate the legality of his imprisonment in Cambodia. Polonsky wrote in his appeal, which he posted on Facebook, that "the numerous attempts to secure my release using legal mechanisms have failed."

rapsinews.com