U.K. refuses to treat Berezovsky as criminal over coup interview

LONDON, July 5 (RIA Novosti) - British prosecutors said Thursday the U.K. will not open criminal proceedings against Russian fugitive oligarch Boris Berezovsky, recently accused by Russia of calls to overthrow the government.

Susan Hemming of the Crown Prosecution Service said that, having examined the recording of Berezovsky's April 13 online interview with The Guardian, the investigators found that he was calling for civil disobedience, rather than terrorist acts, and therefore could not be stripped of his refugee status granted in 2001, which under British counterterrorist law would mean his extradition to Russia.

Russia has been seeking Berezovsky's extradition since 2002 on charges of money laundering and fraud.