Lebedev Found Guilty Over TV Chat Show Brawl

Media magnate Alexander Lebedev has been found guilty of battery over a brawl on a TV chat show in his native Russia.

The financial backer of Britain's Independent and Evening Standard newspapers was sentenced by a court in Moscow to 150 hours of community service, avoiding a prison term.

He had claimed the case against him was politically motivated, depicting the trial as President Vladimir Putin's revenge on him for criticising the government.

Last week, the opposition surprisingly dropped the main charge against Lebedev, of "hooliganism motivated by political hatred", which carried the threat of several years in prison.

Instead, they asked for his movements to be restricted for 21 months and for him to be banned from large public gatherings.

Alexander Lebedev has been convicted of assault over the TV punch up

Speaking after sentencing, Lebedev's lawyer, Genry Reznik, said his client was "ashamed" of the verdict, which his team would appeal.

Lebedev, a former London-based KGB agent, punched property tycoon Sergei Polonsky on a Russian political chat show in September 2011, knocking him to the floor.

He claimed he was protecting himself and that the subsequent charge of hooliganism was disproportionate. 

Last week, Mr Polonsky called for Lebedev - who is estimated to be worth more than £700m - to be forgiven.

Lebedev is rare among oligarchs in speaking out against the Kremlin since the imprisonment of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was arrested in 2003 after falling out with Mr Putin. Khodorkovsky's Yukos oil company was broken up and sold off, mainly into state hands.

Lebedev, who co-owns a campaigning Russian newspaper critical of Putin, also portrayed the case as part of a broader crackdown on the opposition since the former KGB spy returned to the presidency in May 2011 following protests.

Mr Polonsky spent three months in jail in Cambodia this year for allegedly attacking the crew of a boat after a dispute erupted during a New Year's Eve outing.

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