MOSCOW (AFP)--A Russian who says he was recruited by the
security service to spy on a liberal opposition group said Monday
that he was denied political asylum in Finland and fears
retaliation if deported to Russia.
"If they are mild, they will put me in jail," Alexander Novikov
told AFP by telephone from the northern Finnish town of Rovaniemi.
"As for the worst-case scenario, I do not even want to discuss it
by telephone."
Novikov says that from 2006 to 2008 he was paid by Russia's FSB
security service, the successor to the Soviet-era KGB, to
infiltrate an anti-Kremlin political group led by former world
chess champion Garry Kasparov.
He went public with his claims in February 2008 during a trip to
Denmark and subsequently applied for political asylum in Finland -
an application that was rejected by Finnish authorities last
Friday, he said.
"They told me, roughly speaking: 'You have not presented enough
material to be granted political asylum'," Novikov said, adding
that he planned to appeal the ruling but that he could be deported
in days if the appeal were rejected.
According to Novikov, the FSB paid him 8,000 rubles (about $300
at the time) a month to pose as an activist of Kasparov's group,
the United Civil Front, and give them regular reports about its
activities.
Novikov says he gave the FSB advance information about the
group's protests, adding that his FSB handlers appeared "very
afraid" of the prospect that Kasparov could eventually lead a mass
uprising.
"They were afraid of protests. They were very afraid of mass
uprisings," Novikov told AFP.
"The system is afraid of a mass uprising. And the idea of a mass
uprising was presented to me in this way: If Kasparov gathers 3,000
people, this is nothing to fear...But if he gathers 50,000, then it
is something."
An FSB spokesman declined to speak to AFP by telephone about
Novikov's allegations and asked that questions be submitted in
writing. Questions sent by fax to the service weren't answered
Monday.
The United Civil Front has confirmed that Novikov regularly
attended their activities and was even arrested at one of their
protests. Russian opposition groups say they are regularly spied on
by the FSB.