Andrei Lugovoi, a Russian businessman and former KGB officer, during an interview with Kommersant on November 23, 2006. Lugovoi met Alexander Litvinenko in London on November 1, 2006, the day that Litvinenko was allegedly poisoned with the radioactive isotope polonium-210.
Photo: Alexey Kudenko
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Britain Covers "Tenth Wave"
// Andrei Lugovoi Accused of Alexander Litvinenko Murder
Yesterday the British Crown Prosecution Service accused the head of the Russian security firm "Tenth Wave," Russian businessman and former FSB officer Andrei Lugovoi, of "the murder by deliberate poisoning" of fellow former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko in London last November. The Russian ambassador in London has already been notified that Britain is seeking Mr. Lugovoi's extradition from Russia. In the event that Russia refuses to comply, the British authorities are preparing a warrant for his arrest and detention by Interpol. Mr. Litvinenko's widow Marina Litvinenko said yesterday that she has filed suit against Russia in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
"I have today concluded that the evidence sent to us by the police is sufficient to charge Andrei Lugovoi with the murder of Alexander Litvinenko by deliberate poisoning," said Britain's director of public prosecutions Sir Ken Macdonald. "In those circumstances, I have instructed CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) lawyers to take immediate steps to seek the early extradition of Andrei Lugovoi from Russia to the United Kingdom, so that he may be charged with murder and be brought swiftly before a court in London to be prosecuted for this extraordinarily grave crime," said Sir Ken.
According to British investigators, Andrei Lugovoi poisoned Alexander Litvinenko on November 1, 2006 in the bar of London's Millennium Hotel by slipping a tiny amount of the radioactive isotope polonium-210 into his victim's teacup. Mr. Litvinenko died in a London hospital on November 23. Tests conducted that very day had revealed that his mysterious illness was radiation poisoning with polonium-210.
In a conversation with Kommersant, Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky, who lives in Britain after being granted political asylum and who was acquainted with both Litvinenko and Lugovoi, expressed "regret" that Andrei Lugovoi has been charged with the murder: "I trusted that man very much. He has protected me and my family for many years. But there is much evidence of Lugovoi's guilt," he said. Mr. Berezovsky did not rule out the possibility that murder charges may be filed at a later date against Russian businessman Dmitry Kovtun, the other participant in the meeting at the Millennium Hotel (Mr. Kovtun is being investigated in both London and Germany, where he is suspected of the illegal transport of radioactive material). Mr. Litvinenko's father Walter is also certain of Mr. Kovtun's involvement. "I have no doubt that Mr. Lugovoi and Mr. Kovtun were involved in the murder of my son," he told Kommersant yesterday. "For several days before Sasha's death, when I was sitting by his bed in the hospital ward, he said, 'papa, they murdered me, I trusted them, and they poisoned me. Lugovoi poured me tea and insisted that I drink it.'" At first, remembers Walter Litvinenko, Lugovoi and Kovtun offered Alexander Litvinenko whiskey and vodka: "When my son refused, reminding them that he didn't drink alcohol, Mr. Lugovoi offered him tea and filled the teacup himself."
Yesterday Alexander Litvinenko's widow Marina thanked "the police and Britain's Crown Prosecution Service for their hard work in investigating the murder" of her husband. She also announced that she has filed suit against Russia in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Mrs. Litvinenko refused to discuss the contents of the suit. Mr. Litvinenko's friend in London, the Chechen separatist spokesman Ahmed Zakayev, told Kommersant that Marina Litvinenko appealed to the European Court not in search of material compensation but in order to see the legal responsibility for her husband's death laid at the feet of the Russian authorities. "Litvinenko's family and friends have no illusions about the reaction of the Russian authorities to the demand to extradite Mr. Lugovoi – they won't hand him over. But with that refusal, the Russian authorities are only giving more confirmation of the version [of events] that Litvinenko's murderers were fulfilling a government order," said Mr. Zakayev.
Russian Ambassador to Great Britain Yury Fedotov was called to the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office yesterday and presented with the request to extradite Mr. Lugovoi. "This was a serious crime. We are seeking and expect full cooperation from the Russian authorities in bringing the perpetrator to face British justice," said British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett. A British government spokesman seconded her, saying, "Russia should execute our legal demand." He noted that the two countries are linked by important political and economic ties, "but in any case that is no exemption from international jurisdiction law, which must be respected."
Russia has signed the European convention on extradition, under which Andrei Lugovoi can be handed over to Great Britain. However, this contradicts the 61st article of the Russian constitution, which forbids the extradition of Russian citizens at the request of foreign governments.
A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service told Kommersant that they "are aware of Russian statutes regarding extradition." To prepare for the event that the Russian government refuses to hand over Lugovoi, the official extradition order will be followed by a European warrant for Lugovoi's arrest, which will also be sent to Interpol, which has jurisdiction in Russia.
Yesterday the Russian prosecutor general's office said that it will review the documents from the UK but will not hand over Andrei Lugovoi. "This is not compatible with Russian law. We, as legislators, will stand guard over our laws," asserted Russian State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov. The prosecutor general's office, which is conducting its own investigation into the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, has said that Mr. Lugovoi could be brought to trial on the basis on the material provided by Great Britain, but only on Russian territory. The Russian investigation claims that Lugovoi and Kovtun are also suffering radiation sickness after being exposed to the radioactive isotope by "a person still unknown to investigators."
Yesterday Andrei Lugovoi himself said that he was innocent of the charges and that the accusations brought forth against him by Great Britain "to be political." "I did not kill Litvinenko, I have no relation to his death, and I can only express well-founded distrust for the so-called basis of proof collected by British judicial officials," said Mr. Lugovoi. The businessman promised to made several public statements within the next week that will be "sensational for a British audience and that could fundamentally change the assessment of events that took place in Great Britain over the last few years in which individuals of Russian extraction were involved."
For his part, Boris Berezovsky believes that Andrei Lugovoi could be liquidated to avoid further development of the scandal and escalating tensions in relations between Great Britain and Russia: "The accusation of Lugovoi is an accusation of Putin personally. He is a witness to his crimes. And the KGB liquefies witnesses. Lugovoi's life is in danger," he said.
Alexander Zheglov, Musa Muradov, Vladislav Trifonov
All the Article in Russian as of May 23, 2007
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