MOSCOW, May 31 (RAPSI) - Russian real estate mogul Sergei Polonsky was "not of sound mind, possibly under the influence," during his clash with banker Alexander Lebedev on a TV show, businessman German Sterligov said in the Ostanskinsky District Court Friday.

Lebedev has been accused of hooliganism and battery.

Sterligov, who was also involved in the recording of the show on the state-run television channel NTV, said Polonsky behaved inadequately and may have been under the influence of drugs. He described Polonsky's behavior as hyperactive, provocative, and extremely rude.

Lebedev, on the other hand, behaved reservedly and calmly, the witness said.

Sterligov did not witness the punches that Lebedev threw at Polonsky because he left a few minutes before the fight. Even so, he said he did not see anything wrong with Lebedev's response. In fact, he said he considered his punches "a proportionate manly response to a series of rude statements."

Meanwhile, Polonsky's attorney Alexander Dobrovinsky said that the witness does not have the special medical expertise required to detect if Polonsky was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The initial charges against Lebedev were made last September over a year since he punched Polonsky during the show. The scuffle ensued after Polonsky accused Lebedev of spreading a rumor about a crack in the Moscow City skyscraper that his firm was building.

Lebedev, 52, is the co-owner of the Novaya Gazeta newspaper and the owner of the UK's The Independent daily newspaper. He has supported a program to raise funds for opposition figurehead Alexei Navalny's anti-corruption project RosPil. He has also made repeated claims about a persecution campaign against his businesses in Russia by the government - a charge that the authorities deny.

In early January, Polonsky ended up in another fracas in Cambodia, when he and two other Russians allegedly attacked the six-person crew of a boat ferrying them from a Cambodian island to Sihanoukville. The sailors later dropped their charges.

Polonsky and two other Russian nationals, Konstantin Baglay and Alexander Karachinsky, were arrested on Dec. 31 and remained in the custody of the Cambodian police. Baglay and Karachinsky were released on bail on March 11, 2013. On April 3, Polonsky was released from the Cambodian prison but was restricted from leaving the country.