EXCLUSIVE: Team Oksana: She Was The Victim Of Mel's Extortion

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Oksana Grigorieva's camp is making a dramatic change in their legal argument against Mel Gibson — that she was the victim of the Oscar-winning actor’s attempted extortion.

The claim centers around the $15 million peace agreement that the Russian musician walked away from after failed mediation talks in May, which RadarOnline.com was first to report.

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In the agreement, which Mel and Oksana both signed in draft form, she promised to destroy "evidence," including the hate-fuelled and expletive-laden tapes.

According to the document, Mel agreed to pay Oksana and their infant daughter, Lucia, approximately $15 million. 

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In return, Oksana agreed to "turn over all 'evidence' and represent and warrant that all evidence has been turned over and all evidence will be destroyed in a manner agreed upon by both parties."

“Evidence” was defined as “recordings, audio tapes, emails, text messages, videotapes and photographs... of Gibson.”

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Oksana's lawyer, Daniel Horowitz, told RadarOnline.com: "It is my understanding that attorneys are not permitted to take evidence of a crime and destroy that evidence, under Californian law."

He said, “Oksana felt that she was being threatened at the mediation and she felt she would lose her daughter and be arrested for making the tapes, if she did not sign the agreement.

"The fact that a room full of Mel Gibson's lawyers were willing to pay $15 million for the destruction of the tapes and photographs, proves beyond any doubt that they are real.

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"Oksana's concerns were always about the safety of her children. She feared that if the recorded threats against her by Gibson were destroyed, she would have no way of proving that there was a very real danger from him, and that it would just be her word against his."

A source inside Team Oksana told RadarOnline.com: “It’s clear that Oksana was the one extorted, because she went to the mediation understanding she was there to discuss child custody issues and to amicably resolve questions about her and Mel’s child, so that there was no public exposure of their personal life.

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“Yet what it turned into was a barrage of threats for her to sign an agreement which turned over evidence of crimes by Mel Gibson against her.

“If she did not do that, she was threatened with law suits, arrests and the loss of her child.

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“She was the one extorted; she was promised $1 million when she turned over of all of the "evidence".”

As RadarOnline.com was first to report, the aborted mediation took place May 15 and 16 and lasted approximately 12 hours, each day.

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Two retired judges oversaw the dispute.

Horowitz told RadarOnline.com: “The role of the attorneys and the retired judges in the creation of this document are probably a major subject of scrutiny and I personally would not to participate in this kind of negotiation, because it is morally ambiguous.”

The twist in Oksana’s offensive comes after she was interviewed Wednesday for more than two hours by the Los Angeles County District Attorney about the alleged smack down Mel Gibson dished out.

“She spoke without reservation about every single topic,” Horowitz told RadarOnline.com, exclusively.

“Oksana has never asserted the fifth amendment and if she is called upon to testify in any criminal case, she won’t assert her fifth amendment right."

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MEL AUDIO TAPE #6: The Tape That Could Destroy Mel: "No One Will Believe You", He Says After She Charges: "You Hit The Baby"

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