MOSCOW, July 2 (RIA Novosti) – A Moscow court sentenced former billionaire Alexander Lebedev to 150 hours of compulsory community service on Tuesday over a televised minor brawl with a Russian businessman two years ago.
The Ostankinsky District court found the media magnate and former airline owner guilty of battery for punching fellow tycoon Sergei Polonsky during the filming of a talk show on the NTV television channel in September 2011.
Lebedev’s lawyer Henri Reznik said the defense will appeal the court’s ruling.
“We will be appealing the ruling and will be doing everything to fulfil our professional duty. The defense will do everything possible for justice to prevail,” Reznik said.
The original charges against Lebedev included hooliganism "motivated by political hatred," which carried a possible five-year prison sentence, but on June 28 the prosecution suddenly said that the conflict between the businessmen had been proven to be personal, not political.
Prosecutors last week asked the court to sentence Lebedev to 21 months of “restricted freedom” for the lesser offense of battery, which included banning him from attending mass gatherings or changing his place of residence or work without permission from law enforcement authorities.
Lebedev, a former KGB officer, had denied his guilt and said the charges are unsubstantiated, insisting he was acting in self-defense after being provoked by Polonsky.
Lebedev owns several British newspapers, including The Independent, and is also co-owner of Russia's investigative and Kremlin-critical Novaya Gazeta newspaper. Until recently he also held a 4.5-percent stake in Russia's largest airline Aeroflot.
Polonsky did not testify at the trial, as his defense claimed he is not allowed to leave Cambodia, where he was released on bail after being accused of assaulting local sailors during New Year’s celebrations in late December. He is on a Russian wanted list over an alleged property fraud in Moscow and is rumored to have fled to Israel, from where he apparently sent messages on social networks to Lebedev during his trial.
