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Russian presidential candidate now says he was kidnapped
London, Feb 14: Russian presidential candidate Ivan Rybkin changed his story about what happened to him during a recent five-day absence, this time coming forth with dramatic details about how he was kidnapped, drugged and filmed in a compromising video.
London, Feb 14: Russian presidential candidate Ivan Rybkin changed his story about what happened to him during a recent five-day absence, this time coming forth with dramatic details about how he was kidnapped, drugged and filmed in a compromising video.
Rybkin, who is running for president against President Vladimir Putin, held a news conference in a London hotel to explain his disappearance, which he said earlier this week he needed to get away from Russian intelligence service officials.
The 57-year-old candidate, whose campaign is flagging far behind Putin, went missing after bodyguards dropped him off by his Moscow home February 5. He resurfaced on Tuesday only to find he was the subject of a major police search.
Revising his story yesterday, Rybkin announced that he was lured to Kiev under a false pretext. He said while there he was drugged and filmed in a compromising video. Rybkin said he didn't know who kidnapped him, but said, ''I know to whose advantage it occurred''. He claimed it had all been an effort to humiliate the political opposition in the run-up to Russia's presidential election on 14 March.
Russian tycoon, Boris Berezovsky, who funds Rybkin's Liberal Russia Party was also present at the news conference. Later, Berezovsky told he had no doubt this was part of Putin's election campaign, although he was not sure if Putin himself had been involved in the kidnapping.
There was no way to verify Rybkin's latest story, and after the news conference, he left to conduct a round a radio and television interviews, the report said.
He said he agreed to go to the Ukrainian capital because he was told he could meet the last elected president of Chechnya for peace negotiations. But he became unconscious after eating tea and butter bread. He said he was unconscious for four days and after the drugs wore off he found himself guarded by two armed men. ''Then they showed me a disgusting video with my participation and told me it was planned to compromise me and force me to cooperate,'' he said. He refused to say more about the video.
Rybkin said he made his previous explanations of his disappearance under threat of being harmed if he told the truth. Out of concern for the safety of his family, he said he planned to stay in western Europe through the March election.
Rybkin's behaviour already has enraged Russian political services. Parliamentarians slammed his conduct after he reappeared in Tuesday as a misjudged stunt to boost his popularity ahead of the elections.
Bureau Report
The 57-year-old candidate, whose campaign is flagging far behind Putin, went missing after bodyguards dropped him off by his Moscow home February 5. He resurfaced on Tuesday only to find he was the subject of a major police search.
Revising his story yesterday, Rybkin announced that he was lured to Kiev under a false pretext. He said while there he was drugged and filmed in a compromising video. Rybkin said he didn't know who kidnapped him, but said, ''I know to whose advantage it occurred''. He claimed it had all been an effort to humiliate the political opposition in the run-up to Russia's presidential election on 14 March.
Russian tycoon, Boris Berezovsky, who funds Rybkin's Liberal Russia Party was also present at the news conference. Later, Berezovsky told he had no doubt this was part of Putin's election campaign, although he was not sure if Putin himself had been involved in the kidnapping.
There was no way to verify Rybkin's latest story, and after the news conference, he left to conduct a round a radio and television interviews, the report said.
He said he agreed to go to the Ukrainian capital because he was told he could meet the last elected president of Chechnya for peace negotiations. But he became unconscious after eating tea and butter bread. He said he was unconscious for four days and after the drugs wore off he found himself guarded by two armed men. ''Then they showed me a disgusting video with my participation and told me it was planned to compromise me and force me to cooperate,'' he said. He refused to say more about the video.
Rybkin said he made his previous explanations of his disappearance under threat of being harmed if he told the truth. Out of concern for the safety of his family, he said he planned to stay in western Europe through the March election.
Rybkin's behaviour already has enraged Russian political services. Parliamentarians slammed his conduct after he reappeared in Tuesday as a misjudged stunt to boost his popularity ahead of the elections.
Bureau Report