LONDON, June 6 (UPI) -- Moscow will not accept Britain's refusal to extradite Russian dissident Boris Berezovsky on coup charges, a senior Russian parliamentarian said Tuesday.
A British court Monday rejected a request to hand over the controversial tycoon, an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin.
"The issue of Berezovsky's extradition is not closed and new requests will be forwarded," said Pavel Krasheninnikov, chairman of the Duma's law committee, according to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
In March, Moscow accused the billionaire businessman -- who lives in London -- of plotting to overthrow Putin, after he openly called for his removal. Then British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw warned Berezovsky that his status as a refugee might be reviewed.
But Judge Timothy Workman ruled that as Berezovsky already had political asylum it would be a waste of taxpayers' money to continue with the case.
A key ally of former President Boris Yeltsin, the tycoon was instrumental in Putin's ascent to the top job. But he became a target of the latter's crackdown on the Russian oligarchs and was accused of defrauding a regional government of $13 million. In 2000 he fled to Britain, where he actively supports pro-democracy groups opposed to Putin's regime.
He was granted political asylum in 2003 and fought off previous extradition requests on the embezzlement charges.
The latest allegations relate to an interview with Russian radio station Ekho Moskvy on Jan. 25, in which Berezovsky said Putin was "violating the constitution and, today, any forceful actions by the opposition will be justified."
"That includes a forceful seizure of power, and that's what I've been working on," he said.
Berezovsky, who rose to riches buying up stakes in oil, metals, airlines and media businesses during Russia's rapid privatization of state-owned companies in the 1990s, has an estimated fortune of $1.4 billion.
