Berezovsky, too, refused to give any further comments on his new status. Other sources were also unavailable for comment on Wednesday evening. The British embassy in Moscow refused to discuss the tycoon’s case, and the Prosecutor General’s Office, which is seeking Berezovsky’s extradition on fraud charges, remained silent on Wednesday.
The UK’s decision to grant Berezovsky political asylum in the middle of the extradition proceeding seems especially surprising given that the British home secretary had already turned down an asylum request in March this year, shortly after the extradition proceedings were launched.
Berezovsky’s aides on Wednesday refused to discuss the possible implications the UK’s decision would have on his extradition case. ''I do not know. I cannot pass a comment on the other issues connected to this decision,'' Vladimir Voronkov said.
Russia accuses Berezovsky and his business associate Yuly Dybov of defrauding the administration of the Samara Region of millions of dollars in the mid-90s. The tycoon has resolutely denied the charge, saying it is politically motivated and that it amounted to an attempt by the Kremlin to retaliate against him for his harsh criticism of Vladimir Putin’s policies, and for his support of opposition forces in Russia.
By international law, refugee status is granted to a foreign citizen or a person without citizenship if there are well-founded grounds to fear his or her persecution at home on the basis of race, religion, nationality, personal opinions or membership in a certain political group. By granting political asylum to such a person, the government automatically acknowledges that he or she is persecuted unlawfully at home.
In a majority of countries it is stipulated by law that a political refugee cannot be banished from that country, Boris Berezovsky’s lawyer Semyon Aria confirmed on Wednesday. In Aria’s opinion, Britain’s move can be considered a refusal to extradite Berezovsky to Russia.
''I do not know all the subtleties of British law, but from the standpoint of clear logic, if the country grants someone political asylum, it naturally must turn down his extradition request,'' Aria said.
Extradition proceedings against Boris Berezovsky began in London in April 2003, after the Prosecutor General’s Office accused the entrepreneur and Yuly Dybov, Berezovsky’s former business partner in Logovaz, a major car dealership, of stealing cars from the VAZ car plant and defrauding the administration of the Samara region of $1.9 billion. The two were summoned to a police station in London on March 24 to be informed that Russia sought their extradition on fraud charges. The tycoon and his business partner were then released on bail of 100,000 pounds each.
Some suggest that the change of heart towards Berezovsky in Britain has been brought about by the West’s changing attitude towards Russia in the wake of the ongoing attack on YUKOS and several other Russian companies, which have come under pressure from the Kremlin lately.
With the world media focused on the so-called YUKOS case and the strife between the so-called siloviki, or force-wielding agencies, and the country’s super-rich, as well as increasing political activity – Boris Berezovsky who in the run-up to this year’s parliamentary elections has announced he plans to return to the lower house as a deputy and pledged to continue his support of opposition movements – Britain, has most likely revised its stance on the entrepreneur as lawyer Semyon Aria implied in his comments for Gazeta.Ru.
Gazeta.Ru has asked several leading Russian political experts for their opinion on the matter. Director of the Institute for Political Studies Sergei Markov maintains that Britain’s decision to grant Berezovsky political asylum is in no way connected with either the YUKOS case, or with Chechnya. ''British authorities do not regard Russia as a terrorist state, employing terror against its own citizens.''
The head of the Foundation for Analytical Programmes ‘Expertiza’, Mark Urnov, is convinced that Berezovsky, most likely, is using the YUKOS case as a cover. ''I have long said that the attack on YUKOS is of benefit to two people – to Berezovsky and to Zakayev. Now they will be regarded as political martyrs abroad,'' Urnov told Gazeta.Ru.
Russia seeks the extradition of the Chechen rebel envoy Akhmed Zakayev, an aide to Aslan Maskhadov, from Britain on a wide range of charges, including murder and terrorism. Earlier Denmark refused to extradite the Chechen, saying that evidence of his guilt provided by Russia was insufficient.
11 СЕНТЯБРЯ 14:29
