The funeral of Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky was always
going to be a private affair, held behind closed doors to the media.
Very few of his friends attended.
Surrey Police confirmed to Voice of Russia that the would be
attending a funeral at Brookwood – near Guildford – to prevent any
hindrance to the proceedings, although they refused to say if it was for
Berezovsky.
However, they denied reports that amed police were in the area.
Thames
Valley Police, which is leading the investigation into his death, would
not confirm funeral arrangements, saying it was a private affair.
The few mourners included Akhmed Zakayev, Boris’s friend,
and members of his legal team. there were fewer than 30 people at the
cemetery in Surrey, according to journalist Luke Harding, of the
Guardian, in a tweet.
He also reported a Ukrainian TV crew hiding in bushes.
Exile in the UK
The self-made billionaire – said to be worth $3 billion – was a former
academic who built his fortune with investments in oil, cars, aluminum,
and the media.
He played an integral part in Vladimir
Putin’s rise to power in 2000. However, they fell out when Putin began
charging many oligarchs with tax evasion. Berezovsky fled to England in
2000, where he lived until his death.
Will written nine days before death
However,
it was reported in The Times that although he had recently changed his
will, his executors had refused to carry it out and a court had
appointed an accountancy firm to deal with his finances, said to be in
some disarray.
Strangled
Friends
of Boris Berezovsky have claimed that the Russian oligarch was
strangled to death despite a post-mortem examination which showed no
sign of a struggle and that he died with a ligature around his neck,
consistent with hanging.
Related:
Boris Berezovsky: Fade to Black
Opinion. Berezovsky: The faded face of a bygone era
What lies beneath Berezovsky’s death?
He was found dead in his bathroom at his mansion in Mill Lane, Ascot, west of London on Saturday March 23.
But friends say he was not suicidal and believe he was strangled.
Reports circulated that he was due to be cremated at Gunnersbury Cemetery on May 6.
However – being a municipal cemetery– that seemed unlikely as it was a bank holiday in the UK.
Quiet funeral
The inquest was opened and adjourned on March 28, after a brief police statement in which a spokesman confirmed: “The
results of the post-mortem examination, carried out by a Home Office
pathologist, have found the cause of death is consistent with hanging.
The pathologist has found nothing to indicate a violent struggle”.
First published in Voice of Russia.