LONDON, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Britain has decided to grant the political asylum to beleaguered Russian media tycoon Boris Berezovsky, Pravda reported Thursday.
Berezovsky applied for a political asylum in 2002. British Home Secretary David Blunkett first rejected the application after a London court started to consider Russia's request to extradite the oligarch.
Blunkett's decision might complicate the upcoming court session in London regarding Moscow's extradition request.
"The British Home Office sent a letter to Berezovsky dated Sept. 9 stating it had granted him political asylum," Berezovsky aide Vladimir Voronkov told the Moscow Times.
Berezovsky is accused of fraud in a 1994 deal for the carmaker AvtoVAZ. He says the charges are an attempt to muzzle him before the next round of elections.
