MOSCOW, April 13 (UPI) -- Russia asked British officials to deny political refugee status to fugitive Boris Berezovsky.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also urged British officials to evaluate Berezovsky's comments in London's Guardian newspaper about overthrowing the Russian government, Interfax reported Friday.
"There are a lot of good lawyers in London. Appeals to overthrow the political authorities give a valid reason for taking the required legal measures," Lavrov told reporters Friday, Interfax reported.
Russia wants British authorities "to put an end to the situation, in which Berezovsky enjoys the status of a political refugee, yet blatantly abuses this status and takes actions that require extradition, according to British law," he said.
Berezovsky demanded an apology from a state Russian television channel that reported he had illegally obtained political asylum status in Britain by forcing a security agent to testify he had been sent to kill him, RIA Novosti reported. Berezovsky has threatened to sue the channel for libel.
