RR Phantom
Location : Wasted Space
Job/hobbies : Cayman Islands Actuary
 |  Subject: OZschwitz: Shot IT worker furious as pleas 'ignored'  Sat Jun 26, 2010 3:46 am | |
| Russell Cunning blames MPs for the lack of action over his brutal assault, writes Tim Elliott.
YOU might think our federal politicians have seen enough bloodletting for one week. Now along comes Russell Cunning.
The 54-year-old IT worker, who lives in Ukraine, has declared a one-man war on Australia's politicians who, Cunning says, ignored his pleas for help following his near-fatal shooting in Kiev.
The former Brisbane man, who now runs an English language school in the Ukranian capital, has launched four websites attacking federal politicians, including the former prime minister Kevin Rudd, whose picture appears next to graphic photos of Cunning's bullet wounds. ''I've met consular officials from Canada, Britain and Nigeria,'' Cunning says. ''They have told me they would offer me more assistance than Australia did - and I don't hold a passport from any of their countries.''
It all began late one night in February 2008, when Cunning was driving home through Kiev after giving a lesson.
''Suddenly I was approached from behind by a large four-wheel-drive,'' he explains. ''The driver flashed his lights, which is a signal here to let someone pass.
''But I was overtaking a truck so I had nowhere to go. He then high-beamed me, turned on an extra set of lights and sounded his horn continually.
''When I passed the truck and [it] passed me, I flashed my lights.
''The driver then ran me off the road." Furious, Cunning got out of his car and approached the four-wheel-drive.
"I was asking him in my best Aussie English, 'What the f--k is your problem?' when the driver opened the door and shot me twice with a revolver, once in the leg and once in the stomach."
The car sped off, and Cunning was taken by ambulance to hospital, where he underwent surgery to remove the bullet from his leg. At 7am, two policemen interviewed him, asking, among other things, where he was living in Kiev. A few hours later, while he was being interviewed by two other policemen, Cunning's landlady called to say "there were strangers in a black BMW at my house asking my neighbours about me." The men then jumped the fence and tried to open the doors to Cunning's house.
"I then got a phone call from men claiming to be police. They asked where I was, which was interesting as the real police had only just left the hospital."
Cunning was transferred to a private clinic, but over the next two weeks he continued to receive phone calls from people claiming to be police. The men in the black BMW returned to his house, seven or eight times.
"When a neighbour asked them to identify themselves, he was bashed," Cunning says.
By this time, Cunning had been contacted by the Australian consulate, where a Russian woman called Oxana advised him not to disclose his whereabouts. Cunning also spoke to a senior consular official. "I told this person that I was worried about the men coming around to my house and calling me.
''So I asked the official if she could write to - or even just call - Ukrainian authorities asking whether these men were government officials.
''If she had just asked about those men who were at my home, I believe the senior Ukranian officials would have told their police to investigate properly - and perhaps even catch these men.''
But the woman refused to send a letter or call, claiming that this would be "interfering''.
Cunning responded that Australia had no problem "interfering" in Bali after the 2002 bombing.Frustrated, he asked the official what she could do.
"She said she could call occasionally to see if I was alright. I asked, 'What if I'm not alright?' She answered, 'We could ship your body back to Australia.'''
The official "categorically denies" making these remarks, and claims her colleagues acted professionally at all times.
A spokeswoman from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the Australian embassy in Moscow had provided "extensive consular assistance" to Cunning, including the contact details of the investigating police officer and a list of English-speaking lawyers.
"Australians overseas should refer all safety concerns to the local security authorities and [Cunning] was given this advice," the spokeswoman said. But Cunning remains furious, and has since the shooting written to politicians of both major parties, including four letters to the former prime minister.
"Kevin Rudd personally intervened to help Annice Smoel, who was jailed after stealing a bar mat in Thailand. He also sent Australian Federal Police to help investigate the disappearance of Britt Lapthorne in Croatia. I do not begrudge these people that attention. I just wonder why he completely ignored me. Perhaps if I was female, blonde and attractive, I would get help, too?"
Cunning says there are systemic problems that need fixing. ''How about all the thousands of people who go abroad each year - don't they deserve better? ''
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