Russian tycoon faces fraud trial

Boris Berezovsky said he will not participate in the trial

Russian billionaire and Kremlin critic Boris Berezovsky could be tried in absentia next week for embezzlement, a Moscow court official said.

The London-based tycoon is accused of embezzling millions of euros from Russian airline Aeroflot in the 1990s.

But he dismissed the legal move as politically motivated resulting from his constant criticism of the Kremlin.

Mr Berezovsky reportedly said he had instructed his lawyers not to participate in the trial.

"The preliminary hearings in which the court will decide on the start of the trial are expected on Monday 2 July," said Anna Usachova, a spokeswoman for Moscow city court.

The charges, that Mr Berezovsky embezzled 214m roubles (£4.15m) from the Russian flag carrier airline, carry a jail sentence of up to 10 years.

A former Kremlin insider, Mr Berezovsky fell out of favour after Vladimir Putin became Russian president in 2000. He fled to Britain in the same year to avoid prosecution in the Aeroflot case.

He faces another prosecution in Russia over what authorities in that country say was a call for the government's overthrow.

Britain has refused to extradite him.

'Stupidity'

The billionaire said the planned trial was "the latest manoeuvre to draw attention away from the Kremlin in the Litvinenko case".

The self-exiled tycoon used to be close to Vladimir Putin

Ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko died in London in November after being poisoned with a radioactive substance, polonium-210.

On his deathbed, Mr Litvinenko blamed Mr Putin for his poisoning, as has Mr Berezovsky.

British prosecutors have accused a former KGB officer, Andrei Lugovoi, of murdering the 43-year-old Kremlin critic, and have asked Russia to extradite him.

But Russia has refused and Mr Putin has dismissed the request as "stupidity", saying the constitution forbids the extradition of Russian citizens.

Mr Berezovsky amassed a fortune during the early days of Russia's chaotic conversion from communist to capitalist economy.

He was a major shareholder in Aeroflot during the 1990s.