Under local laws, the businessman cannot be kept under arrest for more than two days without a court's decision.

Polonsky was to appear at a Cambodian court hearing on Wednesday over Russia's request to extradite him. "At the meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Polonsky will be either handed over to Interpol or released. But when a Cambodian lawyer and Russian representatives drove up to the prison, they were not allowed to enter," the lawyer said.

According to Karabanov, he carefully studied Cambodian legislation which said Interpol's arrest warrant could only be extended to 48 hours.

Earlier this week it was reported that the Russian businessman was arrested by Cambodian police after several hours of chase in the jungle; he was unable to explain his attempt to flee.

"I don't know why I did it," the newspaper Cambodia Daily cited him on Wednesday. Later in the day, the businessman is to attend a hearing at the court in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh over his extradition to Russia, where he is accused of fraud.


Businessman Sergei Polonsky will ask a Cambodia court not to process the question of his extradition to Russia and release him after which he is going to return to the homeland voluntarily.

"First of all, the defense will ask to revise the verdict for Polonsky and not to process the question of his extradition so that he could return in Russia voluntarily," Alexander Karabanov, Polonsky’s lawyer has said on Tuesday.

He also noted that another lawyer who would take part in the trial has flown off to Cambodia.

Earlier, the Cambodian authorities have officially notified the Russian Interior Ministry of the detention of Polonsky, who is charged with fraud.

"The Russian Interior Ministry has received official confirmation from competent authorities of the Kingdom of Cambodia about the fact of Sergei Polonsky's detention on an island," Interior Ministry spokesman Andrei Pilipchuk told journalists on Tuesday.

A Cambodian court is supposed to rule on whether Polonsky should be extradited to Russia on November 13, he said.


Russian businessman Sergei Polonsky, detained by the Cambodian authorities on November 11 upon the request of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, is in a migration prison and awaits extradition to Russia, Polonsky's lawyer Karabanov said.

"Sergei has no contact with his local lawyer, the latter is not permitted to the detention facility, where, according to our information, Sergei is," Karabanov said on Tuesday.

According to the attorney, local law enforcement authorities do not allow lawyers to see Polonsky because the businessman has seriously compromised a police chief. "This looks more like an attempt to get even," Karabanov said.

Polonsky's defense waits for his extradition to Russia and then "we will begin talks with the Interior Ministry's investigative department," he said.