RUSSIA: ULTRANATIONALIST LEADER ZHIRINOVSKY ATTACKS TV JOURNALISTS

(9 May 1997) Russian/Nat

Russian ultranationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky is well known for his feisty and sometimes violent behaviour.

On Thursday, he was at it again - attacking two television journalists after they filmed him being denied entry to a ceremony at Moscow's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Zhirinovsky erupted in anger when presidential guards barred him from the memorial just outside the Kremlin as President Boris Yeltsin was laying a wreath there.

Apparently, Zhirinovsky was late for the ceremony.

Presidential guards barred the ultranationalist leader from the memorial just outside the Kremlin as President Boris Yeltsin was laying a wreath there.

The ceremony was being held to mark Friday's Victory Day holiday, which commemorates the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

Apparently, Vladimir Zhirinovsky was late for the ceremony.

Seeing that a Moscow Television Channel correspondent tried to film the incident, the politician erupted in anger.

He grabbed her microphone, threw it on the ground and twisted her hand.

The politician then pushed the correspondent into his car where his guards tried to take away her documents.

Pictures of the incident were shown on Russian television channels.

A cameraman for Moscow's 2x2 TV channel tried to film the violence but Zhirinovsky and his guards pushed him away.

The Russian government was quick to condemn the incident.

Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov called Zhirinovsky's behaviour disgraceful.

SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"I see this as an unacceptable act of vandalism and violence against journalists. I believe that nobody, and especially not a member of the lower house of parliament, should show this kind of behaviour. And I strongly recommend the journalist to go to the nearest hospital for treatment, and then maybe take it to court."
SUPER CAPTION: Yuri Luzhkov, Moscow Mayor

SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"A hooligan should be confronted with all the harsh sides of the laws as we know them."
SUPER CAPTION: Anatoly Kulikov, Interior Minister

The cameraman ended up in a nearby Moscow hospital with minor injuries to his face.

Zhirinovsky heads a faction in the State Duma, parliament's lower house, and enjoys immunity from prosecution unless the chamber lifts it or he decides to do so himself.

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