The story

A Russian writer who contradicted some authorities by suggesting that the hijacked cargo ship Arctic Sea was carrying something other than timber was fired after he fled Russia because of threats, he told CNN Friday.

Mikhail Voitenko said in multiple media interviews that he caught the first flight to Istanbul, Turkey, this week to escape possible lawsuits or worse for his comments on the Arctic Sea saga.

On Friday, he told CNN by cell phone that he had moved from Turkey to Bangkok, Thailand. Voitenko, who was editor of the online Maritime Bulletin-Sovfrakht, cast doubt on the official account of the hijacking. Sovfrakht is a group of leading cargo companies that operate in Russia and abroad. Read full article »

-- CNN's Ivan Watson, Maxim Tkachenko and Matthew Chance contributed to this report.

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