Media tycoon Alexander Lebedev today appealed for bloggers to locate and photograph the missing 'victim' of his famous television talk show attack.
A Moscow judge has allowed controversial court case into the TV 'punch' to proceed without the 40-year-old alleged victim, property mogul Sergei Polonsky, after the hearing was told he is unable to leave Cambodia where he is on strict bail over allegations of kidnapping and assault.
But there is growing evidence that he left Cambodia some weeks ago, and after he posted a picture of himself in a bathtub yesterday, suspicions he may now be in Israel. Earlier reports suggested he was in Switzerland and Luxembourg.
Mr Lebedev, 53, who co-owns Russian investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta and whose son Evgeny owns Independent titles and the Evening Standard, is accused of 'hooliganism motivated by political hatred' in striking Mr Polonsky in a 2011 talk show.
There are fears that the prosecution and trial are political, with powerful interests seeking to have him jailed in revenge for anti-corruption campaigns.
In his blog, Mr Lebedev wrote: 'I am addressing fellow bloggers from Israel: have you seen our 'victim' by any chance, somewhere on the Mediterranean coast, between Ashdod and Tel Aviv?
'Somewhere near the town of Yavne, for example?
'If you meet him photograph him, please. He is keenly awaited at the trial.'
There are clues from his web social sites and mobile phone that he is in Israel, it is understood.
If Mr Polonsky is found to be relaxing in Israel - or in Europe - it could have a decisive impact on the trial, and he could be ordered to attend by the judge.
Photographs posted by Mr Polonsky on the web in the past week have shown him in a luxury seaside hotel or penthouse, riding a bike, and in a wooden bath tub.
The pictures show 'What he thinks about the judicial system in Russia', said Mr Lebedev, who claimed that should he return to Moscow Mr Polonsky may also face criminal investigation on other matters.
Mr Lebedev's legal team want to question ex-paratrooper Mr Polonsky on his allegedly differing accounts of the TV fracas given by the property baron, and argue it is unfair that the trial's star witness, who initiated the proceedings, is absent.
In written testimony to the court, Mr Polonsky claimed that but for his military training he could have suffered serious injury of death from three punches from Mr Lebedev.
He claimed former KGB officer Mr Lebedev had used 'specialised training and his skills in martial arts' as he struck him.
Mr Lebedev will call a martial arts expert to dispute this account, and he also denies any political malice against Mr Polonsky.
