Deport Berezovsky? Yes, But...

[What follows is correct, of course. And yes, Berezovsky should now be deported. But we must not take our eye of Putin's Russia. Putin can turn off our gas any time he likes (which is why we desperately need plenty of civil nuclear energy, the real nuclear deterrent), and intends to back two parties at once in the next elections, one of which pretends to be patriotic and socially conservative in order to attract traditional right-wing voters, the other of which pretends to be Socialist in order to attract traditional left-wing voters, and each of which pretends to be separate from the other one, from the State, and from the dodgy super-rich. Remind you of anywhere?]

This fugitive billionaire has exposed his violent agenda

Berezovsky is the embodiment of 'robber capitalism', and Britain should no longer harbour him after this outrage

Dmitry Peskov
Monday April 16, 2007
The Guardian

There can now be no doubt about the motivations of those behind the long and sustained campaign to blacken Russia's image and destabilise the Russian government from afar over the last few years. In the clearest possible terms, Boris Berezovsky told the world last week that he wants to foment a violent revolution in Russia against a democratically elected president. "I am calling for revolution and revolution is always violent," he says, confirming ominously that "there are practical steps" which he is taking.

We now expect the British authorities to rethink their decision to harbour a fugitive billionaire who is using the protections afforded by the British state to call for regime change in a sovereign state and member of the G8 group of leading democratic economies.

The Foreign Office has already condemned Berezovsky's calls for violent struggle. It now needs to match words with action in accordance with the law. Berezovsky is wanted in connection with charges of misappropriation of funds and fraud in his home country. The latest charges lodged with the Russian prosecutor's office link him directly to the embezzlement of 214m roubles (£4.2m) from the national flagship air carrier Aeroflot.

Now that his motives have been laid bare, it is time also to reassess the carefully executed and well-funded misinformation campaign - the "practical steps" as he terms them - that he has been orchestrating from London.

The first step, of course, has been to undermine the legitimacy of the Russian government. Berezovsky claims that Russia is in the grip of authoritarian dictatorship. In fact, Vladimir Putin has won two democratically held elections and, according to the latest opinion polls, enjoys an approval rating of over 70%. He has made explicitly clear that he will be leaving office after the conclusion of his second term, as required by the constitution.

Berezovsky also claims that "the media in Russia remain under total Kremlin control"; another accusation that is ludicrously far from the truth. There are approximately 3,200 TV and radio broadcasting companies in Russia, of which about 10% are state-owned. Over 46,000 publications are registered in the country, well over 20,000 more than existed in 2000. With a burgeoning media, catalysed by 25 million internet users accessing whatever content they wish, it is ludicrous to claim total government control.

The campaign against the president is also personal and slanderous. Berezovsky has made outrageous slurs alleging the president's involvement in Alexander Litvinenko's death, without a shred of evidence. He claims that Russia's security services were behind the series of apartment bombings in 1999 that killed nearly 300 people, when Putin was prime minister. Again, he does not have anything to back up his claims. In his interview last week, Berezovsky pretty much admitted this, saying that he had dedicated much of the last six years to "trying to destroy the positive image of Putin".

So why does it matter? Who cares about the fantastical musings of a man in self-imposed exile, speaking from the luxury of his London home?

The fact is Boris Berezovsky and his associates have been putting thousands of pounds into creating and financing foundations, thinktanks and campaign groups tasked with illegally undermining the Russian government and its president. I believe that the media, and those who consume its content, have a right to know both who is behind the misinformation campaign and what narrow political agenda is being pursued. By coming out of the shadows this week, Berezovsky has done us all a great favour.

The irony is that, for all Berezovsky's allegations, he personifies how far Russia has changed and moved on. As one of the sharpest critics of President Putin, Andrei Piontkovsky, director of the Moscow-based Independent Institute for Strategic Studies, says, "Berezovsky is the embodiment of robber capitalism".

However, Russia no longer tolerates the unfettered personal acquisition of state assets that marked the post-Soviet phase of the country's transition. We now have an effective rule of law; we have high economic growth and stability; we have an expanding middle class and a growing civil society. I am not claiming that there are not real challenges ahead, but I would argue that few countries in the world have made such a profound transition in such a short period of time.

So the choice for the British government, and the wider British public, is clear: should it support a fugitive, bent on violent revolution against a democracy; or should it begin to question his outlook, his motives, and his ways of operating? Action against those who incite violence has recently been a high priority for the British government. It should remain so.

· Dmitry Peskov is deputy press secretary to Vladimir Putin, the president of the Russian Federation

· Boris Berezovsky denies the charges laid against him in Russia and maintains they are politically motivated