A self-described business associate of Boris Berezovsky who told state television that the self-exiled tycoon was ?€?behind Pussy Riot?€? has reiterated his accusations on the independent Dozhd channel.
?€?Knowing him particularly well, I can assume that Berezovsky was one of the orderers of this action,?€? Alexei Vishnyak Dozhd late Wednesday.
Vishnyak, who owns souvenir and icon shops at Christ the Savior Cathedral, said he had ?€?worked with Berezovsky for many years?€? and had seen letters that Berezovsky had addressed to Patriarch Kirill.
?€?The church issue in Russia was discussed, and from this I came to the conclusion that he might have been involved?€? in Pussy Riot.
Vishnyak, who was misidentified by the earlier Rossia-1 state television as ?€?Veshnyak,?€? told Dozhd that he was serving as Berezovsky?€™s ?€?adviser on religious issues,?€? but denied having definitive proof that the tycoon played a role in organizing Pussy Riot?€™s February performance for which three members were sentenced to two years in prison.
Berezovsky has acknowledged to knowing Vishnyak but denied involvement in Pussy Riot.
?€?In no way have I been involved with Pussy Riot, nor did I discuss any projects with Alexei Vishnyak,?€? he on Ekho Moskvy radio on Wednesday.
Undermining Vishnyak?€™s credibility, Orthodox theologian Andrei Kurayev on his blog Wednesday that Vishnyak had served a prison term for beating his parents to death with a dumbbell. He cited undisclosed sources.
Vishnyak told Dozhd that the accusation was ?€?nonsense.?€?
But he did admit that in Israel he had been charged with ?€?anti-Semitic actions,?€? even though his mother is Jewish. He said he did ?€?not care to elaborate.?€?
The documentary-style report that aired on Rossia-1 on Tuesday night said Berezovsky had shown Vishnyak photos of Pussy Riot musician Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and her husband Pyotr Verzilov, a member of the Voina performance art group, and said, ?€?We will soon act in a church aisle.?€?
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