From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng  (Original Message)    Sent: 4/16/2007 11:22 AM
Monday, April 16, 2007

Russia: Berezovsky Calls For End To 'Criminal Regime'

Russia -- Berezovsky, Boris
Berezovsky: Authorities "are afraid of any event they haven't organized themselves"
(RFE/RL)
April 16, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Self-exiled Russian multimillionaire Boris Berezovsky caused a sensation on April 13 when, in an interview with Britain's "the Guardian" newspaper, he appeared to call for a violent overthrow of the Russian government. Berezovsky later sought to soften his tone, saying it was a use of force, and not violence, that was needed. RFE/RL Russian Service correspondent Mikhail Sokolov spoke to the London-based Kremlin opponent in a telephone interview April 14.





RFE/RL: Did "The Guardian" misrepresent your comments? Did you use the word "violence" in calling for the overthrow of the Putin regime?
MORE: Read the complete interview in Russian on the site of RFE/RL's Russian Service.


Boris Berezovsky: I want to say that it may be that my English is significantly worse than my Russian. And for that reason, when I said "force," I meant a forceful takeover of the regime. It's what I said more than a year and a half ago, and I'm not going to change my position. I do in fact consider this to be a criminal regime; the regime in Russia is criminal. I believe that there is no way possible to change this regime through democratic procedures like elections.

RFE/RL: What do you mean by forceful takeover of the regime?

Berezovsky: The events in Ukraine, for example, the events in Georgia... this is an example of my understanding of a forceful takeover of a regime. When it's the street, the square, that is putting pressure on the powers, forceful pressure, with the goal of changing the regime. I want to stress that this president, who today is absolutely illegitimate -- by this I mean Putin -- even this illegitimate president admitted the legality of what took place in Georgia, and congratulated [Mikheil] Saakashvili when he became president.

RFE/RL: And in Ukraine in 2004?

Berezovsky: It took three times, but [Putin] recognized what had taken place in Yushchenko, and in the end he congratulated [Viktor] Yushchenko. Two times he congratulated [Viktor] Yanukovych on winning the presidency. Our Putin is a little crazy, he doesn't always understand reality. But the third time around, he finally congratulated Yushchenko. This means that Putin himself admits that this approach to regime change is legitimate.

RFE/RL: Let's talk about another public movement -- the March of Dissent opposition rally in Moscow. There were 1,500 people participating, and by comparison there were 9,000 police.

Berezovsky: It's paranoia. In Nizhny Novgorod [where March 24 opposition protests were forcibly dispersed] there were several hundred protesters, and the authorities sent out 20,000 OMON special forces, police officers, et cetera. It's paranoia. They're afraid. The problem is that the authorities are stupid. They can't afford for there to be anything unexpected in such events. And so they're afraid of any event that they haven't organized themselves.

RFE/RL: Your critics say that you cultivate myths about the fact that there's some kind of plot brewing in Putin’s inner circle.

Berezovsky: I always answer for what I have said. Let me emphasize this point: I have called for, and I continue to call for, the forceful overthrow of the authorities. And the reaction of the authorities to this appeal in my interview in "The Guardian" demonstrates that the authorities are afraid of any event that they cannot control. I call for the forceful overthrow of the authorities. There is no other way to change this anticonstitutional regime in Russia.


  FURTHER READING
'Their Own Law'
Former presidential adviser Andrei Illarionov tells RFE/RL that a new ideological regime has emerged in Russia. more
    Mikhail Kasyanov Warns Of Crisis
Former Prime Minister and presidential hopeful Kasyanov tells RFE/RL that Russian civil society must not be silent now. more

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/04/5E39A171-02B0-4ED8-8787-C14C2544CFBE.html