Russia Charges Berezovsky With Plotting Against Putin

Russia today charged the exiled tycoon Boris Berezovsky with conspiring to seize power on the basis of an interview he gave to the Guardian calling for a violent revolution in Russia.

Mr Berezovksy's lawyer, Andrei Borovkov, said today the London-based former oligarch faced new charges of attempting to stage a coup against the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

The Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia's domestic state security agency, had charged him on the basis of an interview he gave to the Guardian on April 13, his lawyer said.

In it, the tycoon claimed he was plotting the violent overthrow of President Putin from his base in Britain after forging close contacts with members of Russia's ruling elite.

In comments that appeared deliberately calculated to infuriate the Kremlin, Mr Berezovsky said he was already bankrolling people close to the president who were conspiring to mount a palace coup.

"We need to use force to change this regime," he said. "It isn't possible to change this regime through democratic means. There can be no change without force, pressure." Asked whether he was effectively fomenting a revolution, he said: "You are absolutely correct."

Police in Britain and Russia immediately launched separate inquiries into his comments. In Moscow, the Kremlin angrily renewed its demand for Mr Berezovsky's extradition, claiming he had breached the terms of his asylum status in the UK and should be handed over to Russia to stand trial.

The FSB is known to have studied recordings of the Berezovsky interview after they were posted on the Guardian Unlimited website. Uniformed agents working out of the agency's headquarters, at Moscow's Lefortovo prison, examined the Guardian front page as part of their inquiry and took statements from witnesses.

Today the FSB said it had no public comment to make on the decision to charge Mr Berezovsky with plotting a coup.

In London, Scotland Yard's counter terrorism command has launched its own investigation aimed at finding out whether the multimillionaire businessman has committed any offense and establishing whether there are any grounds for revoking his refugee status.

In a separate case, Mr Berezovsky went on trial in his absence in Moscow today charged with money-laundering and embezzlement. He is accused of stealing £4.12m from the Russian state airline Aeroflot.

The case was adjourned until July 12 after Mr Berezovsky's legal team announced it was boycotting the proceedings, which Mr Berezovsky has dismissed as politically motivated and "a farce".