Berezovsky trial postponed for two weeks

A preliminary hearing was held today in the trial in absentia of Kremlin foe Boris Berezovsky on charges that he embezzled millions of pounds from Russian national airline Aeroflot.

A court-appointed attorney for the tycoon, who has ordered his own lawyers not to take part in what he calls a politically motivated farce, won a two-week postponement he said he badly needs to read the voluminous case materials, Russian news agencies reported.

Berezovsky, a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin who has asylum in Britain, said last month that the trial was part of an effort by Russian authorities to draw attention away from the poisoning death of his associate Alexander Litvinenko, which he blames on Putin’s Kremlin.

The court-appointed lawyer for Berezovsky, Alexander Dudkin, said he asked the court for a month to examine the case files, which he said consist of 123 volume, RIA-Novosti reported.

The court granted him two weeks, scheduling the next hearing for July 26.

“It’s not enough time of course, and if I do not manage to acquaint myself with the case in two weeks, I will request the trial be postponed further,” RIA-Novosti quoted him as saying.

Dudkin also said the court confirmed that Berezovsky could be tried in absentia, granting a prosecution request, the agency reported.