Translated material
Spy novel
Charges of espionage may be added to Boris Berezovsky's numerous "exploits"
The Russian FSB has begun investigating a criminal case, the consequences of which no one can judge. With the consent of the Prosecutor General's Office, the Investigation Department (ID) of the security service began an investigation “on signs of British espionage in Russia,” where disgraced oligarch and political refugee Boris Berezovsky could become one of the main defendants. The basis for this, as it turned out, was a scandalous statement by businessman Andrei Lugovoy , who in the UK is considered the main suspect in the death of retired FSB colonel Alexander Litvinenko.At the end of May, having gathered Russian and foreign journalists for a large-scale press conference, Mr. Lugovoi said that Berezovsky, who has been living in the UK as a political refugee for four years, and the late Litvinenko were recruited by British intelligence. Immediately after the event, representatives of the Russian special services stated that they did not hear anything new in the speaker’s speeches. But they promised to still analyze the information. The FSB has so far refused to disclose whose names appear in this investigation. And the disgraced oligarch’s lawyer, Andrei Borovkov, believes that he may soon receive a summons from the FSB.
“Today I would like to make a statement that should shed light on this dark political story, in which the main role is played by the British intelligence services and their agents Berezovsky and the late Litvinenko,” entrepreneur Andrei Lugovoy began his speech on May 31, telling reporters about his own versions of the murder of ex-FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko. Among the statements made by Mr. Lugovoy, the topic of Boris Berezovsky's cooperation with the British intelligence service MI6 came up several times.
According to Lugovoi, in order to obtain asylum and citizenship, Mr. Berezovsky handed over to the British documents concerning the work of the Russian Security Council (in 1996-1997, the disgraced oligarch was deputy chairman of the Security Council), and then became a permanent intelligence agent.
In addition, Andrei Lugovoi said that the British tried to recruit him to collect information compromising the Russian President. The British, according to former counterintelligence agent Lugovoy, were also interested in information “about the activities of the FSB in the so-called “English direction.”
The businessman categorically refused “cooperation,” despite the fact that the recruiters hinted at difficulties in obtaining a visa that the businessman might subsequently encounter if he disagreed. “I was taught to defend the Motherland, not to betray it!” - Mr. Lugovoy summarized and suggested that the British may also be involved in the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko. “I have the opinion that he was clearly beyond the control of the British intelligence service and they could have removed him,” this is how Mr. Lugovoy began to present his version of the circumstances of Litvinenko’s death and asked that his speech to journalists be considered “an official appeal to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia "
“The information from Lugovoy and Kovtun, voiced at the press conference, will be analyzed from a legal point of view insofar as it concerns possible damage to the security of the Russian Federation,” the FSB Central Operations Center reported after the press conference.
As it turned out, it took the Russian special services two weeks to figure it out and verify the authenticity of Lugovoy’s words. On Friday, the FSB issued an official statement according to which, based on the results of checking the statement of Russian businessman Andrei Lugovoy, the FSB Investigation Department opened a criminal case on grounds of espionage.
The department did not say who will be or already appears in the case as a suspect. According to lawyer Borovkov, no one will be surprised if the disgraced oligarch is charged with espionage. “The story with Andrei Lugovoy’s speech and then the initiation of a criminal case resembles an ineptly staged performance,” the lawyer said and noted that he has not yet received a summons from the FSB, but “it would be quite logical from the point of view of the current government.”
Boris Berezovsky himself, who in Russia is accused of illegal business, laundering illegally acquired funds, financing Chechen separatist leaders andcalls for a violent seizure of power , called the new espionage case a “cover operation.” According to Mr. Berezovsky, in this way the Prosecutor General’s Office cannot find a way to justify Lugovoy.
On May 22, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of Great Britain accused former Russian intelligence officer Lugovoi of the murder of his former colleague Litvinenko and demanded that Russia extradite him to British justice. The Prosecutor General's Office then promised to check the arguments of the British side and make an appropriate decision. And if it took Russian law enforcement officers only two weeks to initiate a criminal case based on Andrei Lugovoy’s speech, then our investigators have been dealing with the arguments presented by their British colleagues in the request for the extradition of the businessman for almost a month.
On Friday, it became known that the Prosecutor General's Office transferred a criminal case to the Savyolovsky Court in Moscow, in which Boris Berezovsky is accused of embezzling 214 million rubles. from the Aeroflot company . For a long time, Mr. Berezovsky was only a witness in the so-called Aeroflot case, which has been under investigation since the late 90s. However, during the investigation, he was named as the author of the entire scheme for the non-return of foreign currency funds from abroad and their laundering. It was not possible to detain the main suspect, and the top managers of the company, who, as the investigation noted, brought the criminal plan to life, were put behind bars. Several people have already been convicted in this case. In particular, last summer, the same Savyolovsky court again, after canceling the previous verdict, sentenced Aeroflot deputy general director Nikolai Glushkov, chief accountant Lidiya Kryzhevskaya and head of the FOC company Roman Sheinin to two years of suspended imprisonment each, with a probationary period of one year.
Mr. Berezovsky's lawyer Semyon Ariya said the trial, the start date of which has not yet been set, could take from several days to several months. “There are only 14-15 witnesses in the case, but there is a huge amount of documents,” Ariya said. In his opinion, if documents are not read out in court, the process could take “only two or three days.” “But if the documents are made public, it will take several months,” the defense lawyer added. The case will be heard in the absence of the accused.