Russian Prez Candidate: "I Was Drugged, Kidnapped"

[DudeAsInCool]

Russian presidential hopeful Rybkin says he was drugged and kidnapped

Russia's presidential hopeful Ivan Rybkin, who mysteriously disappeared for five days, said Friday that he was drugged, kidnapped and kept unconscious by captors who had lured him to Ukraine.

Rybkin, who said the incident involved a murky attempt involving a video tape to "compromise" him, also announced he would not withdraw from the March 14 Russian elections and told a London press conference he would conduct his campaign from Western Europe.

Rybkin said that he had gone to Ukraine on the understanding that he would be meeting Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov for peace negotiations.

On arrival in Kiev on February 6, Rybkin said he was driven to an apartment where he was told to wait for Maskhadov.

"I had some tea and some sandwiches and suddenly I felt very drowsy," Rybkin said through a Russian interpreter.

"I woke up in yet another totally unfamiliar apartment after an uncertain time," said Rybkin, who apologized to his audience for sounding emotional.

Rybkin said he had been unconscious for four days and regained consciousness on February 10, when he was told to telephone family or friends in Moscow to say he had taken a short break in Kiev.

He said his captors then "showed me a revolting video tape with my participation and they told me it was a plan to compromise me and force me to be cooperative."

"I don't know who kidnapped me, but I know for whose benefit it was done," Rybkin said, without elaborating.

He said he was later driven to the airport and boarded a plane back to Moscow.

He would not be drawn on the contents of the tape he mentioned, saying only: I'm not going to comment on the video tape, it was done to compromise me."

Rybkin had disappeared days after making explosive allegations about Russian President Vladimir Putin's supposedly shadowy business dealings -- a subject that has been taboo in the tightly controlled Russian media.

Despite his ordeal, Rybkin, who left Russia just two days before his official registration as a presidential candidate, said he had now taken a firm decision to continue his campaign.

"To be able to tell people the truth from now on, I will conduct my campaign from Western Europe," he said in a London hotel alongside his main financial sponsor Boris Berezovsky.

Rybkin said he was worried about the safety of his family in Russia, and added: "From now on, if my granddaughter would even scrape her knee, I would blame Mr Putin."

The Russian media, however, recently ridiculed Rybkin -- who stands no chance of defeating Putin in the March election and ranks last in the field of seven candidates.

Reports and several top lawmakers suggested that Rybkin was on a drinking binge when he vanished.

Berezovsky, who backs Rybkin's party Liberal Russia, had urged him to explain his disappearance.

Berezovsky, a billionaire tycoon who is a fierce opponent of Putin and wanted on fraud charges in Moscow, has been in exile in Britain since October 2001 where he has obtained political asylum.

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