This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/europe/7118660.stm

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Moscow court convicts Berezovsky Moscow court convicts Berezovsky
(about 3 hours later)
A Moscow court has found the exiled businessman Boris Berezovsky guilty of embezzling millions of dollars from the Russian national airline Aeroflot. A Moscow court has sentenced the exiled businessman Boris Berezovsky to six years in jail in absentia after finding him guilty of massive embezzlement.
The court found that Mr Berezovsky had stolen 214m roubles (nearly $9m) from the state airline Aeroflot through fraud. It ordered him to repay it.
Mr Berezovsky, who has political asylum in Britain, controlled the airline in the 1990s.Mr Berezovsky, who has political asylum in Britain, controlled the airline in the 1990s.
The court said Mr Berezovsky had stolen 214m roubles (nearly $9m) from the airline, in what it described as an organised criminal fraud. He told the BBC the verdict was "a farce".
Mr Berezovsky told the BBC the verdict was "a farce".
He is a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin and Britain's refusal to extradite him has been one of several irritants straining relations between London and Moscow.He is a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin and Britain's refusal to extradite him has been one of several irritants straining relations between London and Moscow.
He made a huge fortune in the political and economic upheaval following the collapse of communism in the early 1990s.He made a huge fortune in the political and economic upheaval following the collapse of communism in the early 1990s.
Russian prosecutors have asked the court to jail him for nine years. The judge described him as part of an organised criminal group that included Aeroflot managers.
"This court has no significance for me or for those who abide by the law," Mr Berezovsky told BBCRussian.com. "I instructed my lawyers not to participate in this farce.""This court has no significance for me or for those who abide by the law," Mr Berezovsky told BBCRussian.com. "I instructed my lawyers not to participate in this farce."
Mr Berezovsky was a close associate of Russian former secret agent Alexander Litvinenko, whose fatal poisoning in London last year triggered a British-Russian diplomatic row.Mr Berezovsky was a close associate of Russian former secret agent Alexander Litvinenko, whose fatal poisoning in London last year triggered a British-Russian diplomatic row.