Letter to Boris Abramovich Berezovsky

To Boris Abramovich Berezovsky.
Astrakhan /Russia/ - London /Great Britain/.
From Russian citizen Mylnikov Sergey Alexandrovich.
Address: 414052, Astrakhan, Botvina St., house No. 24, apt. 12.

Dear Boris Abramovich.

I, Russian citizen Mylnikov Sergey Alexandrovich, consider it my civic duty to address you regarding certain circumstances.

• Due to a number of circumstances known to us, you are currently in London. You are a Russian, just like all of us. But by the will of Fate and Providence, life events have occurred to you, due to which your destiny has turned out the way it has.

The purpose of my appeal to you, and possibly a constant correspondence with you in the future, is to provide you with moral help and support. Yes, yes, providing you with help and support. I understand that you will be very surprised to receive this letter of mine from a person unknown to you. You will, of course, have a question: do I really need help? and what kind of help can this person provide me?

I believe: it is needed! You are, first of all, a human being, like all of us. You are given one life, one Motherland - Russia. Some, perhaps, believe that a person abroad always lives quite well. I assert that life without a Motherland, if a person was forcibly deprived of their Motherland, is bad! This is an incomplete life and he needs help. At least moral help.

And on top of that, all sorts of accusations have been heaped upon you - corruption, threat of arrest, prosecution, "wanted" status - and for all this you need to find the vital strength to survive it all. Indeed, to survive all this, two lives are not enough!

The essence of your accusation here from very high-ranking officials - such as the Prosecutor General's Office, the BEP [Department for Combating Economic Crimes] /which, as is known, are the departments for combating economic crimes of the MVD/, and the mass media obedient to them, boils down to one accusation: "Berezovsky, they say, robbed half of Russia!" A serious accusation. It couldn't get any further.

But here are the questions that arose for me /and not only for me/: "robbing half of Russia" is not a matter of one day. I would like to ask all these "accusers": when Berezovsky was "robbing half of Russia" - where were all of you at that time???!!! You - armed to the teeth with the most modern means, equipment, supercomputers, mobile phones, batons, handcuffs, laws, lawlessness, and so on. Where were you?! Why didn't you stop this "plundering," as the Law requires of you? If Berezovsky was "plundering," and you did not take measures to stop such a grandiose "plundering" - then you are also criminals. Your crime has a specific name in the Criminal Code of Russia and it is called - Criminal Inaction, Criminal Negligence, which caused significant harm to the State. And all of you should be sitting in the dock /and not in your chairs/, and in the first place!

Or maybe everything is different: simply Berezovsky became inconvenient to someone, he interferes with someone for economic, and even political reasons?! Maybe Berezovsky is too energetic a person? He will take the leading roles in the state, how can this be allowed?! ... But if the law enforcement agencies of Russia /high-ranking, Moscow ones, of course/ were filled with such a thirst for establishing order and punishing looters, then the question arises: why do they "not see" much more prosaic, real, concrete /and not far-fetched/ facts of the legal plundering of Russia. For example, the plundering of the Russian State Depository of Valuables /GOKHRAN/. This is when /quite recently/ A. Kozlenok and his associates, by the Decree of the Chairman of the Government of Russia himself, the respected Mr. Chernomyrdin, and the Minister of Finance of Russia, Mr. Fedorov, swiped /pardon the vulgar word/ unique jewelry worth 180 million dollars from GOKHRAN! Is this not the plundering of half of Russia?! And for this such unprecedented theft - virtually no one has been held accountable!

Statement Regarding Boris Berezovsky

• Someone turned out to be "not guilty," someone was amnestied, and someone was sent away to a very high position so as not to be an eyesore here in Moscow. Such facts can be continued.

If I were Boris Berezovsky's defender, I would link everything together for the procedure and interrogate all these "accusers" themselves in court. They would turn into the accused themselves, and they would get more than they bargained for!

Boris Abramovich, I intend to act in the most active way—and I am already acting—in your defense, in your rehabilitation. I organize defense in my appeals, including to our President, to the Prosecutor General's Office, to the media, to foreign media, relevant international organizations, etc. In my arsenal there are enough opportunities and relevant arguments.

No one has the right to forbid me from having my own opinion, from defending a person. Berezovsky must live in his Motherland—in Russia. He is its citizen. His intellect must work for the benefit of Russia. And no "prosecutions." Full rehabilitation.

I know: our "law enforcement agencies" are quite experienced in various falsifications regarding "evidence of guilt." For example, they can easily "find" white powder on a citizen detained for a document check, which will later turn out to be a drug. If necessary, they can "find" a grenade launcher, or a gun. In a word, how much is two times two—as much as needed—that's how much we'll make! So all this fake "evidence" is sewn with white thread. But despite all this, I think that the last word will be ours!

About Myself

Briefly about myself: I was born on October 3, 1937. A native of Moscow. I was born, grew up in Moscow, and so on. I devoted my entire conscious life to the fight against crime.

• I worked in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD).
• I was sent to Astrakhan at one time for service after graduating from the relevant educational institution.
• I was repeatedly sent on business to other cities of the USSR.
• I was in Uzbekistan on "cotton" cases—there were such.
• I was in other cities too.
• I worked in investigative work.

I know about the fight against crime, including economic crime, firsthand. During my quarter-century of service, I've seen everything... enough for three lives. So I stayed in Astrakhan after "perestroika." So Astrakhan for me is not quite Russia and not quite home. And I know what it's like to be without a homeland! Currently, I am retired. But that is a topic for another conversation.

As for the issues I touched upon—the last word will be ours.

Dear Boris Abramovich, I wish you and all your loved ones excellent health, success in all affairs, so that the attacks on you stop as soon as possible.

I hope to receive an answer from you.

With respect - (Signature) Sergei MYLNIKOV.
June 17, 2002