Russian businessman released from Cambodian prison on recognisance

Russian businessman Sergei Polonsky who has spent three months in a Cambodian prison, was released on Wednesday on his own recognisance pending trial, his partner Nikolai Doroshenko, who gave bail, told Itar-Tass. “Polonsky has been released, he already departed for his island,” said Doroshenko, who is a citizen of Cambodia. “As citizens of Cambodia, I and my son Ostap, an immigration officer, we have signed a guarantee the Polonsky will not leave the kingdom before the trial,” the businessman said. The grounds for the detention of Polonsky and his two friends - Konstantin Baglai and Alexander Karachinsky - on December 30 last year, was an incident on a ship, which carried the three Russians to the shore after a trip to islands. According to the prosecution, a crew of six sailors said that Polonsky and his companions, who were in a state of intoxication, threatening the crew with knives, locked them in the hold, and then made them jump into the sea. The Russians have categorically denied these allegations. At the beginning of the judicial investigation the alleged victims withdrew their complaints. After two months of the investigation the court of the city of Sihanoukville, which considers the Russians’ case, made a decision to release Baglai and Karachinsky on bail before the court hearing, however, Polonsky without an explanation was kept in custody.