This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/08/arts/dance/bolshoi-dancer-tries-to-deflect-blame-in-acid-attack.html
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| A Bolshoi Dancer Says He Condoned a Beating but Not an Acid Attack | A Bolshoi Dancer Says He Condoned a Beating but Not an Acid Attack |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| MOSCOW — The Bolshoi Ballet soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko on Thursday tried to deflect blame for the January attack on Sergei Filin, the company’s artistic director. Mr. Dmitrichenko said he had agreed that an ex-convict acquaintance would “knock him around,” but that he was unaware that the man planned to douse Mr. Filin’s face with sulfuric acid, jeopardizing his eyesight. | MOSCOW — The Bolshoi Ballet soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko on Thursday tried to deflect blame for the January attack on Sergei Filin, the company’s artistic director. Mr. Dmitrichenko said he had agreed that an ex-convict acquaintance would “knock him around,” but that he was unaware that the man planned to douse Mr. Filin’s face with sulfuric acid, jeopardizing his eyesight. |
| Mr. Dmitrichenko, 29, appeared in public here at a court hearing for the first time since his detention on Tuesday, when he was arrested and ordered to be held without bail. Mr. Dmitrichenko, who has the expressive, mournful face of a seasoned performer, seemed at ease with the feverish attention, occasionally smiling or conversing with the mob of reporters crammed into the courtroom. When a journalist called out, “Do you want to apologize to Filin?,” Mr. Dmitrichenko answered, “For what?” | Mr. Dmitrichenko, 29, appeared in public here at a court hearing for the first time since his detention on Tuesday, when he was arrested and ordered to be held without bail. Mr. Dmitrichenko, who has the expressive, mournful face of a seasoned performer, seemed at ease with the feverish attention, occasionally smiling or conversing with the mob of reporters crammed into the courtroom. When a journalist called out, “Do you want to apologize to Filin?,” Mr. Dmitrichenko answered, “For what?” |
| He presented a stark contrast to his co-defendant Yuri Zarutsky, who is accused of obtaining acid from an auto shop, concentrating it to increase its corrosive potential, and tossing it at Mr. Filin’s eyes. Mr. Zarutsky, a burly man with tattoos, tried to hide his face with a single meaty hand as reporters shouted questions. He responded to one query with a crude reference to prison rape. | He presented a stark contrast to his co-defendant Yuri Zarutsky, who is accused of obtaining acid from an auto shop, concentrating it to increase its corrosive potential, and tossing it at Mr. Filin’s eyes. Mr. Zarutsky, a burly man with tattoos, tried to hide his face with a single meaty hand as reporters shouted questions. He responded to one query with a crude reference to prison rape. |
| Both Mr. Dmitrichenko and his lawyer said the instigator of the acid plan was Mr. Zarutsky, who lives near the Bolshoi’s complex of summer cottages. | Both Mr. Dmitrichenko and his lawyer said the instigator of the acid plan was Mr. Zarutsky, who lives near the Bolshoi’s complex of summer cottages. |
| Mr. Dmitrichenko said he had struck up a relationship with Mr. Zarutsky — who had been recommended as “a person who could solve any problem” — in case he ever needed muscle in a real estate conflict at the cottage complex. The two men had discussed Mr. Dmitrichenko’s grievances toward Mr. Filin, particularly over the distribution of cash grants to dancers. Mr. Dmitrichenko, who has long complained about artists’ low pay, was kicked off the company’s grant commission in December, he said. | Mr. Dmitrichenko said he had struck up a relationship with Mr. Zarutsky — who had been recommended as “a person who could solve any problem” — in case he ever needed muscle in a real estate conflict at the cottage complex. The two men had discussed Mr. Dmitrichenko’s grievances toward Mr. Filin, particularly over the distribution of cash grants to dancers. Mr. Dmitrichenko, who has long complained about artists’ low pay, was kicked off the company’s grant commission in December, he said. |
| “Yuri Zarutsky, he was constantly saying, ‘Come on, I’ll go over there, I’ll solve your problem, I’ll knock him around,’ and things like that, and I agreed with his suggestion,” Mr. Dmitrichenko said. He said that he called Mr. Zarutsky on the night of the attack to let him know that Mr. Filin was heading home. | “Yuri Zarutsky, he was constantly saying, ‘Come on, I’ll go over there, I’ll solve your problem, I’ll knock him around,’ and things like that, and I agreed with his suggestion,” Mr. Dmitrichenko said. He said that he called Mr. Zarutsky on the night of the attack to let him know that Mr. Filin was heading home. |
| “I admit that, absolutely,” he said. “When I learned what had happened, I was just in shock, and I didn’t believe that this person who suggested beating him up just went and poured acid on him.” | “I admit that, absolutely,” he said. “When I learned what had happened, I was just in shock, and I didn’t believe that this person who suggested beating him up just went and poured acid on him.” |
| Aleksandr Barkhanov, Mr. Dmitrichenko’s lawyer, said Mr. Zarutsky at one point offered to kill Mr. Filin, but that Mr. Dmitrichenko had told him not to. | Aleksandr Barkhanov, Mr. Dmitrichenko’s lawyer, said Mr. Zarutsky at one point offered to kill Mr. Filin, but that Mr. Dmitrichenko had told him not to. |
| “He offered, in general, to solve the ‘cardinal question,’ ” Mr. Barkhanov said, explaining that he meant killing Mr. Filin. “He always insisted on this. But Pavel categorically insisted: ‘By all means, no, I do not need this. God forbid.’ ” | “He offered, in general, to solve the ‘cardinal question,’ ” Mr. Barkhanov said, explaining that he meant killing Mr. Filin. “He always insisted on this. But Pavel categorically insisted: ‘By all means, no, I do not need this. God forbid.’ ” |
| Moscow police officials said on Thursday that Mr. Dmitrichenko paid Mr. Zarutsky 50,000 rubles, or about $1,600, to attack Mr. Filin. Another co-defendant, Andrei Lipatov, has confessed to driving the assailant to and from Mr. Filin’s home, but Mr. Lipatov’s lawyer said on Thursday that his client had no idea that his passenger planned to commit a crime. All three men were formally charged late Thursday with causing serious physical harm as part of a group, a charge that brings a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison, a spokesman for the Moscow police told the news agency Interfax. | Moscow police officials said on Thursday that Mr. Dmitrichenko paid Mr. Zarutsky 50,000 rubles, or about $1,600, to attack Mr. Filin. Another co-defendant, Andrei Lipatov, has confessed to driving the assailant to and from Mr. Filin’s home, but Mr. Lipatov’s lawyer said on Thursday that his client had no idea that his passenger planned to commit a crime. All three men were formally charged late Thursday with causing serious physical harm as part of a group, a charge that brings a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison, a spokesman for the Moscow police told the news agency Interfax. |
| Mr. Filin, 42, is recovering in a clinic in Germany. Since Tuesday, when Mr. Dmitrichenko was detained, the dance world has been debating whether he was capable of such a crime. Though Mr. Dmitrichenko’s career seemed to be on an upswing, there was open disagreement between Mr. Filin and Mr. Dmitrichenko’s common-law wife, the ballerina Anzhelina Vorontsova, over whether he was denying her top roles. Ms. Vorontsova, 21, expressed her frustration with casting decisions a month ago in an interview with Time magazine. | Mr. Filin, 42, is recovering in a clinic in Germany. Since Tuesday, when Mr. Dmitrichenko was detained, the dance world has been debating whether he was capable of such a crime. Though Mr. Dmitrichenko’s career seemed to be on an upswing, there was open disagreement between Mr. Filin and Mr. Dmitrichenko’s common-law wife, the ballerina Anzhelina Vorontsova, over whether he was denying her top roles. Ms. Vorontsova, 21, expressed her frustration with casting decisions a month ago in an interview with Time magazine. |
| “They don’t let me dance here,” she said. “You have no idea how long I’ve been asking to dance ‘Swan Lake,’ and they refuse.” | “They don’t let me dance here,” she said. “You have no idea how long I’ve been asking to dance ‘Swan Lake,’ and they refuse.” |
| Mr. Dmitrichenko did not mention Ms. Vorontsova on Thursday as a source of friction between himself and Mr. Filin. | Mr. Dmitrichenko did not mention Ms. Vorontsova on Thursday as a source of friction between himself and Mr. Filin. |
| Many in the ballet company are said to have greeted Mr. Dmitrichenko’s arrest with skepticism, and Andrei Bolotin, a soloist at the company who attended Thursday’s court session, suggested that the dancer might have been pressured into confessing on videotape. | Many in the ballet company are said to have greeted Mr. Dmitrichenko’s arrest with skepticism, and Andrei Bolotin, a soloist at the company who attended Thursday’s court session, suggested that the dancer might have been pressured into confessing on videotape. |
| “The way he looked when he gave that confession, it was one-quarter of the Pavel we know, and it’s horrifying to think of what he had to go through,” Mr. Bolotin said. | “The way he looked when he gave that confession, it was one-quarter of the Pavel we know, and it’s horrifying to think of what he had to go through,” Mr. Bolotin said. |
| After news of the confession broke on Wednesday, “all, from the wardrobe assistants to coat checkers, said that something isn’t right,” said Alexandra Durseneva, a soloist at the Bolshoi’s opera company. | After news of the confession broke on Wednesday, “all, from the wardrobe assistants to coat checkers, said that something isn’t right,” said Alexandra Durseneva, a soloist at the Bolshoi’s opera company. |
| “Everyone who knows him knows he is a temperamental comrade, he is a leader, he can insist on his point of view, and sometimes he can blow up” she said. “But people of that temperament basically cannot plan something like that in advance.” | “Everyone who knows him knows he is a temperamental comrade, he is a leader, he can insist on his point of view, and sometimes he can blow up” she said. “But people of that temperament basically cannot plan something like that in advance.” |
Andrew Roth contributed reporting. | Andrew Roth contributed reporting. |