Pavel dmitrichenko tsiskaridze in paquita

Bolshoi Ballet dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko could have been "physically coerced" into confessing that he ordered the acid attack on the theater's artistic director, Sergei Filin, a colleague said Sunday, days after Dmitrichenko was accused of paying $1,600 for an acquaintance to do the deed.

Dmitrichenko, 28, made his confession Wednesday in the absence of his lawyer, after 48 hours in police custody, without having a meal, a Bolshoi artist, who spoke on condition of anonymity because investigators warned him against talking to journalists, said in comments carried by  on Sunday.

Asked by a reporter whether the troupe feared that investigators "applied measures of physical coercion" on Dmitrichenko, the source answered in the affirmative.

Neither investigators nor Dmitrichenko's lawyers were available Bolshoi Dancer Gets 6 Years for Acid Attack - The Moscow Times VOR