A leading Russian exile urges use of force in ouster of Putin

MOSCOW - Boris Berezovsky, the exiled Russian tycoon who has emerged as one of the Kremlin's most vocal opponents, yesterday called for the use of force to oust President Vladimir V. Putin and said he had support from some in the country's political elite.

In response, Russia's chief prosecutor opened a criminal case against Berezovsky on charges of plotting a coup, saying in a statement that the remarks "contained an open call to overthrow the constitutional order of Russia." The office also said it would ask British authorities to strip Berezovsky of asylum and to extradite him to Russia.

London's Metropolitan police began an investigation into whether Berezovsky's comments, first published in yesterday's Guardian newspaper, violated any British laws.

Berezovsky said that the Russian leadership could be replaced only by force and that he was in contact with Kremlin insiders who supported his vision for change.

"Putin has created an authoritarian regime against the Russian constitution," Berezovsky said in a telephone interview, echoing earlier comments to the Guardian. He added, "I don't know how it will happen, but authoritarian regimes only collapse by force."

Britain's Foreign Office said it was monitoring Berezovsky's comments.

"We deplore any calls for violent overthrow of any sovereign state," said a Foreign Office spokeswoman, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with department policy. "We expect everyone living, working or visiting the U.K., whatever their status, to obey our laws."

Berezovsky later issued a statement to "clarify" his words, saying he did not "advocate or support violence." He did, however, say that under Putin's government, "elections are not a viable means of ensuring democratic change in Russia."

Russian officials responded that Berezovsky was abusing his asylum status and stressed that Britain must now reconsider its previous refusal to hand him over for prosecution.

"I think London has lots of good lawyers who know perfectly well that calls for the forceful overthrow of the constitutional regime in a foreign country are enough grounds for proper legal measures," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

When Berezovsky was pressed about what he meant by "force," he said he wanted to institute change by using "force like in Ukraine or Georgia." In those two former Soviet republics, opposition leaders won power after nonviolent street demonstrations.

Police yesterday promised a harsh response to plans by antigovernment protesters to march through Moscow's center today - the first of two weekend demonstrations in Russia's largest cities. The other is scheduled tomorrow in St. Petersburg, Putin's hometown.

Garry Kasparov, a former world chess champion who is another vociferous Kremlin critic, said march organizers had rejected a proposal by city authorities to gather in a single location for a meeting, rather than marching down one of Moscow's main avenues.

He said the marches would highlight the government's authoritarian policies and the growing disparity between Russia's rich and poor. The march, Kasparov said, "will clearly show that all this stability - which the Kremlin-controlled television stations trumpets, which is the bait that unfortunately the Western media have swallowed - is an illusion, an illusion that will disappear when it collides with reality."

Berezovsky said he was in close contact with associates of Putin's, and had offered funding and technical support to achieve change. But he would not disclose details of his activities, saying, "It would destroy what I'm doing."

Neither would Berezovsky disclose the identities of his associates in Russia because, he said, "they will be killed like Alexander Litvinenko." Litvinenko, a former KGB officer and friend of Berezovsky's, died in a London hospital in November after being poisoned by radioactive polonium. On his deathbed, he blamed the Kremlin for his poisoning - an allegation that the government has denied.

A former Kremlin insider, Berezovsky fell out with Putin and fled to Britain, which granted him refugee status in 2003 - turning down an earlier Russian extradition request.