Published: 18 March, 2009, 14:30
Edited: 18 March, 2009, 14:30
The Mayor of Kiev showed off his athletic skills to Ukrainian reporters as proof of his physical and mental health. It followed parliamentary calls for him to undergo psychiatric examinations.
Leonid Chernovetsky, who is well known for his eccentric moves, gathered a media crowd at a Kiev stadium and performed several exercises. He did a timed 400-metre run around the stadium (although his results weren't revealed), did 15 pull-ups and rounded off with a 50-metre swim in the pool.
Then the trunks-clad mayor began flexing his muscles in front of the reporters, telling them his athletic endeavours were meant to prove his health.
“Look at this body of mine, see how I express my thoughts. I’m absolutely healthy, sane. My thinking is logical, philosophical,” the Ukrainian News agency quotes Chernovetsky as saying.
The official then went on to lash out at his critics.
Pointing at Ukrainian parliament deputies being shown on a TV screen, Chernovetsky said, “Ukrainian democracy is threatened by fascism, totalitarianism. Look at those people, they judge me today, they want me to spend all my life behind bars in a psychiatric ward.”
He then dressed and left the stadium, surrounded by his bodyguards.
On March 13, a parliamentary commission investigating the activities of the capital’s administration unanimously ruled to have Chernovetsky examined for his mental health.
So far, they have made no comment as to whether they deemed Wednesday’s demonstration satisfactory.