RUSSIA:A Russian court yesterday sentenced self-exiled Russian businessman and Kremlin critic Boris Berezovsky in absentia to six years in prison for embezzling millions of dollars from Aeroflot airline.
Mr Berezovsky, a political refugee living in London, had rejected the charges and refused to co-operate with the court, saying the accusations against him were politically motivated.
"The court has established that Berezovsky embezzled Aeroflot funds by way of fraud, being part of an organised criminal group," Judge Igor Sheremetyev said in his ruling in the Savyolovsky district court in Moscow.
The judge said the criminal group included top managers at Aeroflot, Russia's national airline, which Mr Berezovsky controlled in the 1990s.
Investigators said Mr Berezovsky stole about 215 million roubles (€5.96 million) of Aeroflot funds, of which he had laundered more than 16 million roubles (€443,000).
Britain has rejected Russia's demand for Mr Berezovsky's extradition to stand trial in Moscow, one of several irritants that have damaged relations between London and Moscow.
Mr Berezovsky is one of a handful of magnates who made billions in the turmoil of post-communist market reforms. He was an influential political figure until he fell out with President Putin in 2000 and left the country. From London, he later accused Mr Putin of dismantling democracy in Russia.
The Kremlin, in turn, accuses him of trying to undermine Russia's political stability and says he has close links with separatist rebels in Chechnya.