Limo protest outside Russian consulate in London against Putin

Exiled Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky hired 100 limousines to parade past the Russian consulate in London, with placards on them accusing President Vladimir Putin of mounting a police state.

Signs on the gray and black limousines which drove through central London before stopping outside the consulate read "Free Khodorkovsky," referring to jailed tycoon and Russia's richest man Mikhail Khodorkovsky, "Russian Business vs. KGB" and "Russian Business vs. Police State."

Khodorkovksy, the former head of the Yukos oil giant, has been awaiting trial on fraud and tax evasion charges in a Moscow jail since his arrest last October. Preliminary hearings are to begin on Friday.

"Putin and his government start to press Russian independent people. They start to press first of all politicians, then journalists and now business," Berezovsky said.

The businessman, once a top adviser to former Russian president Boris Yeltsin, last year obtained political asylum in Britain, thus evading Russian authorities who had demanded his extradition on fraud and embezzlement charges.

"The most visible example is Khodorkovsky," Berezovsky told reporters. "He is in jail without any reason. He didn't try to run away from Russia. He is not dangerous for society.

Putin in March was elected to a second term in a contest where he faced virtually no opposition. Since becoming president, he has clamped down on freedom of the press and freedom of expression in Russia, as well as on burgeoning corruption -- leading to charges of authoritarianism.

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