Russia tycoon death in UK 'unexplained'
Source: Agencies |
March 25, 2013, Monday
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No hazardous materials were found when chemical and radiation experts searched the property where Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky's body was found, police in Britain said yesterday.
Berezovsky, who fled to Britain in the early 2000s after a bitter falling out with Russian President Vladimir Putin, was found dead on Saturday at the property in Ascot, a town 40 kilometers west of London.
He was 67.
Thames Valley police say his death is being treated as "unexplained."
"Officers found nothing of concern in the property and we are now progressing the investigation as normal," police said.
Berezovsky's lawyer, Alexander Dobrovinsky, said his death may have been suicide brought on by depression over his debts.
The tycoon - who had survived a number of assassination attempts - amassed a fortune through oil and automobiles during Russia's chaotic privatization of state assets following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
Once a member of President Boris Yeltsin's inner circle, Berezovsky fell out with Yeltsin's successor Putin, and fled Russia to escape fraud charges he said were politically motivated.
Russia repeatedly sought to have Berezovksy extradited on a wide variety of criminal charges, and the tycoon vehemently rejected allegations over the years that he was linked to several deaths, including that of slain journalist Anna Politkovskaya and ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko.
Berezovsky won a libel case in 2010 against a Kremlin-owned broadcaster that aired a show in which it was suggested he was behind the poisoning of Litvinenko, who had fled Russia with Berezovsky's help after accusing Russian officials of plotting to assassinate political opponents.
He took a hit with his divorce from Galina Besharova in 2010, paying what was at the time Britain's largest divorce settlement. The figure was estimated to be as high as 100 million pounds (US$152 million), though the exact figure was never confirmed.
Last year, Berezovsky lost a multibillion-pound High Court case against fellow Russian Roman Abramovich and was ordered to pay 35 million pounds in legal costs.
Earlier last week, The Times newspaper reported that Berezovsky was selling property - including an Andy Warhol portrait of Vladimir Lenin - to settle his debts and pay expenses owed to lawyers.
Ilya Zhegulev, a journalist with the Russian edition of Forbes magazine, spoke to Berezovsky the day before he died.
Berezovsky is said to have told him that during his years in London he had lost the meaning of life. "I no longer want to be involved in politics," Zhegulev quoted Berezovsky as saying in a story published on the Forbes.ru website.
Berezovsky said he wanted nothing more than to return to Russia.
"I had absolutely, idealistically imagined that it was possible to build a democratic Russia. And idealistically imagined what democracy was in the center of Europe," Berezovsky said. "I underestimated the inertia of Russia and greatly overestimated the West. This took place gradually. I changed my understanding of Russia's path."
Berezovsky, who fled to Britain in the early 2000s after a bitter falling out with Russian President Vladimir Putin, was found dead on Saturday at the property in Ascot, a town 40 kilometers west of London.
He was 67.
Thames Valley police say his death is being treated as "unexplained."
"Officers found nothing of concern in the property and we are now progressing the investigation as normal," police said.
Berezovsky's lawyer, Alexander Dobrovinsky, said his death may have been suicide brought on by depression over his debts.
The tycoon - who had survived a number of assassination attempts - amassed a fortune through oil and automobiles during Russia's chaotic privatization of state assets following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
Once a member of President Boris Yeltsin's inner circle, Berezovsky fell out with Yeltsin's successor Putin, and fled Russia to escape fraud charges he said were politically motivated.
Russia repeatedly sought to have Berezovksy extradited on a wide variety of criminal charges, and the tycoon vehemently rejected allegations over the years that he was linked to several deaths, including that of slain journalist Anna Politkovskaya and ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko.
Berezovsky won a libel case in 2010 against a Kremlin-owned broadcaster that aired a show in which it was suggested he was behind the poisoning of Litvinenko, who had fled Russia with Berezovsky's help after accusing Russian officials of plotting to assassinate political opponents.
He took a hit with his divorce from Galina Besharova in 2010, paying what was at the time Britain's largest divorce settlement. The figure was estimated to be as high as 100 million pounds (US$152 million), though the exact figure was never confirmed.
Last year, Berezovsky lost a multibillion-pound High Court case against fellow Russian Roman Abramovich and was ordered to pay 35 million pounds in legal costs.
Earlier last week, The Times newspaper reported that Berezovsky was selling property - including an Andy Warhol portrait of Vladimir Lenin - to settle his debts and pay expenses owed to lawyers.
Ilya Zhegulev, a journalist with the Russian edition of Forbes magazine, spoke to Berezovsky the day before he died.
Berezovsky is said to have told him that during his years in London he had lost the meaning of life. "I no longer want to be involved in politics," Zhegulev quoted Berezovsky as saying in a story published on the Forbes.ru website.
Berezovsky said he wanted nothing more than to return to Russia.
"I had absolutely, idealistically imagined that it was possible to build a democratic Russia. And idealistically imagined what democracy was in the center of Europe," Berezovsky said. "I underestimated the inertia of Russia and greatly overestimated the West. This took place gradually. I changed my understanding of Russia's path."
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