Marina Litvinenko, the wife of murdered former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, stands with Boris Bereshovsky (centre R) and her father-in-law Walter Litvinenko (R) outside The University College Hospital in London on the first anniversary of her husband's death November 23, 2007.
Photo: Reuters
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Maria Litvinenko Demands the Inquest
Alexander Litvinenko’s widow called on the British authorities to hold a full inquest in the murder of her husband, including making public all evidences collected by police. The Times released an open letter of Maria Litvinenko March 27, 2008.
“I do this against the wishes of the Scotland Yard and David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, who both told me that making the evidence public would prejudice a criminal trial of the chief suspect, Andrei Lugovoy, whom the UK is trying to extradite from Russia,” Litvinenko’s widow said via the letter. “ I cannot wait for another ten years for a slim chance that their approach would bear fruit.”
According to the widow, the Russian people should know the truth. “Mr Lugovoy professes his innocence, and none other than President Putin has cast him as a victim of “British colonialism” on national TV,” she said.
It is HM Coroner that holds the inquest demanded by Maria Litvinenko. The action is opened when the death through violence is suspected.
For Litvinenko case, the inquest was suspended when it emerged that he had died of polonium poisoning. The case went to police after it.
Ex-officer of FSB, Alexander Litvinenko had been granted political asylum in Britain and lived there since 2000. He died in London November 23, 2006.
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