Exiled tycoon again calls for "change of power" in Russia

Moscow, Aug 26 (UNI) Russia's exiled tycoon Boris Berezovsky has once again called for ''change of power'' in the country.

"Putin's regime is authoritarian. Under the current system, free elections are impossible. Only pressure on the Kremlin will make it possible to re-establish a constitutional form of government," Berezovsky said in an interview to The Sunday Times.

"If a government violates the law, overthrowing it is not just a right, but an obligation of responsible members of the society," he said quoting English philosopher John Locke.

He said the philosopher's words applied to the current situation in Russia.

"I am calling for deliberate pressure aimed at reinstating a form of government that would correspond to the letter and the spirit of the Russian Federation constitution," the newspaper quoted Berezovsky as saying.

Russia has been seeking the extradition of Berezovsky who is currently living in political asylum in London on charges of money laundering, fraud and plotting coup in Russia.

Britain has so far refused to extradite him.

Last July, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB-former KGB) charged Berezovsky with charges of conspiring to seize power in Russia.

In an online interview to The Guardian on April 13, Berezovsky announced plans to overthrow President Vladimir Putin by force.

"We need to use force to change this regime. It is not possible to change this regime through democratic means. There can be no change without force, pressure," he had said.

Asked if he was fomenting a revolution, he said: "You are absolutely correct." The tycoon subsequently denied in a statement that he was advocating a violent coup.

However, the British Crown Prosecution Service refused to open a criminal case against him, saying he was rather calling for civil disobedience and therefore, could not be stripped of his refugee status granted in 2001.

In January 2006, Berezovsky also told Russia's Ekho Moskvy radio station that he was "working" to stage a coup in the country.

Relations between Russia and Britain have already been strained over the murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in London last November and Moscow's refusal to hand over Andrei Lugovoi, the main accused in the case, to Britain.

UNI