RUSSIA: Man suspected of throwing acid at the Bolshoi ballet artistic director says in court he is being made a scapegoat

Record ID: 353802

  • Title: RUSSIA: Man suspected of throwing acid at the Bolshoi ballet artistic director says in court he is being made a scapegoat
  • Date: 7th March 2013
  • Summary: ***warning contains profanity** MOSCOW, RUSSIA (MARCH 7, 2013) (REUTERS) SUSPECT YURY ZARUTSKY BEING LED HANDCUFFED TO DEFENDANT'S CAGE CAMERAS FILMING ZARUTSKY FLIPPING BIRD (MAKING RUDE GESTURE WITH HIS FINGER) TO CAMERAS AND PEOPLE PRESENT IN COURTROOM ATTORNEYS VARIOUS OF ZARUTSKY STANDING IN CAGE JUDGE LISTENING ZARUTSKY STANDING IN CAGE COVERING HIS FACE WITH HANDS,
  • Embargoed: 22nd March 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Russian Federation
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Crime,Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA47ARKMANKM1CZVRNZBE2TQ6DN
  • Story Text: A man suspected of throwing acid in the face of the Bolshoi ballet artistic director said on Thursday (March 7) that he had been made a scapegoat, after a ballet star accused of organising the attack said he did not want acid to be used.
    Prosecutors suspect Yury Zalutsky of carrying out an attack ordered by Bolshoi dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko.
    During his court appearance earlier on Thursday, Dmitrichenko said he wanted Filin beaten up but not splashed with acid.
    A Moscow judge ordered Pavel Dmitrichenko, Yury Zalutsky and another accomplice Andrei Lipatov held in custody for six weeks while authorities continue to investigate the Jan. 17 attack, which stunned Russia and left the powerful ballet director Sergei Filin with severe burns to his face and eyes.
    The three were arrested on Tuesday (March 5) and Dmitrichenko admitted to organising the attack in a police video shown on Wednesday (March 6), but he said he did not mean for it to go so far.
    In the video, alleged accomplice Yury Zarutsky said he had thrown the acid at Filin, and Andrei Lipatov said he had driven the attacker to and from the scene. Both men were brought to the court with Dmitrichenko, whose hearing was held first.
    Zarutsky flipped the bird to cameras and people present in a courtroom, but later tried to hide his face while standing in a defendant's cage.
    When he was led away from the courtroom after the court ordered his arrest he said, "They have made me a fucking scapegoat".
    Dmitrichenko said earlier he had agreed when Zarutsky suggested roughing Filin up, but did not tell him to throw acid in Filin's face.
    A masked assailant called Filin's name as he returned home from the Bolshoi theatre late on Jan. 17 and threw acid in his face from a glass jar, leaving him writhing in pain in the snow.
    The attack exposed bitter infighting at the Bolshoi and compromised the reputation of the theatre near the Kremlin in central Moscow, an enduring symbol of Russian culture that was founded in 1776.

    "You know, let's distinguish a conflict and what happened here. I don't think the two are related. The conflict was there - let me stress once again, Dmitrichenko has always been in a conflict with the management, under any managers. And it was all in the open, everybody knew, and that's why he had always been pushed away from good roles. Only under Filin he has started to dance leading parts," said Roman Denisov, a Bolshoi ballet musician who came to witness the court.
    Moscow police said on Thursday they believed Dmitrichenko had paid his alleged accomplices 50,000 roubles ($1,600).
    A prosecutor said the state wants the dancer, who Russian media say is 28 years old, charged with a crime punishable by up to 12 years in prison.
    A source at the Bolshoi on Wednesday confirmed media reports and statements from ballet critics saying the outspoken dancer was angry that his partner, ballerina Anzhelina Vorontsova, had missed out on top roles including the lead in Swan Lake.
    A lawyer for Filin, Tatyana Stukalova, said her client was not surprised when he heard that Dmitrichenko was suspected, Interfax reported, but she also suggested the atmosphere of danger at the Bolshoi ran deeper than a missed role or two.
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