John Gvozdenovic Kennedy
John Gvozdenovic Kennedy (born 18 June 1965), known as John Kennedy is a UK Conservative Party member and former lobbyist. He ran as a prospective Conservative parliamentary candidate for Halesowen in the West Midlands in 1997.
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Lobbyist for Radovan Karadzic and Slobodan Milosevic
He was an adviser to Radovan Karadzic and Slobodan Milosevic in the early 1990s.[1] According to the BBC, Kennedy arranged a 1993 visit by the British MPs David Clark and John Reid to the Richmond Hotel in Geneva, "where both met Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, Dr David Owen and other players in the bid to end the war in Bosnia." The MPs were later censured for having failed to declare the trip in the Register of Member's Interests. According to the BBC, it was "claimed that [Kennedy] settled the bills. But Dr Clark says that he believed then that the United Nations had paid for the hotel and he still believed that now. The ministers said if they were mistaken, then they regretted this." [2] Kennedy was hired by Ian Greer Associates for the work. [3]
Private Secretary to Prince Michael of Kent
In 1995 Kennedy was working as private secretary to Prince Michael of Kent when he and fellow lobbyist Anthony Bailey were arrested for allegedly attempting to blackmail a man called Idris who claimed to be a Libyan prince. The charges were thrown out by the courts.[4] A friend of Anthony Bailey's told the Sunday Telegraph that he and Kennedy were "inseparable" until the incident but became "a bit distant after that".[5]
PR executive
After the blackmail scandal Kennedy set up his own PR firm, John Kennedy Associates.[6]
Notes
- ↑ 'Passing shot', Evening Standard, 30 November 1995
- ↑ BBC, Politics 97: 'Ministers Failed to Declare Expenses When in Opposition'
- ↑ Nick Cowen, 'Tory's Serb links spark challenge by Labour MP', Independent, 4 February 1996
- ↑ Nicholas Hellen and Robert Winnett, ‘Labour rejects gift of £500,000’ [This article is subject to a legal complaint], The Sunday Times, 13 March 2005; Nick Cohen, 'Tory's Serb links spark challenge by Labour MP', Independent, 4 February 1996
- ↑ Tim Walker, 'Holy man has an intriguing disciple', Sunday Telegraph, 10 June 2007
- ↑ Nick Cowen, 'Tory's Serb links spark challenge by Labour MP', Independent, 4 February 1996
