Bolshoi dancer denies ordering acid attack
Russian dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko pleaded not guilty to ordering an acid attack that nearly blinded the Bolshoi ballet's artistic director, and a jobless former convict accused of carrying it out told a court he had acted alone.
Russian dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko pleaded not guilty yesterday to ordering an acid attack that nearly blinded the Bolshoi ballet's artistic director, and a jobless former convict accused of carrying it out told a court he had acted alone.
Guards brought Dmitrichenko and the suspected attacker, Yuri Zarutsky, handcuffed into a Moscow courtroom and locked them in a metal cage with a third defendant at the start of a case that has tarnished the reputation of a prime cultural symbol.
All face 12 years jail if convicted of intentionally inflicting grave bodily harm on Sergei Filin in the January 17 attack that shocked Russia.
Dmitrichenko denied the charges. He had said previously that he wanted Filin to be roughed up but had been shocked to learn acid was used.
"What happened to Filin is a result of Zarutsky's savage conduct, not a result of my activities. I had no hostile attitude towards Filin," Dmitrichenko said.
"Zarutsky ... heeding his own motives, committed this dangerous act, which we never discussed since I had no intent, and could not have had one to commit such act in any form."
