Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia Alexander Zvyagintsev
Photo: Sergey Mikheev
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Prosecutor Gives Lugovoi an Alibi
Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia Alexander Zvyagintsev stated at a press conference yesterday that he has familiarized himself with the evidence provided by Great Britain of Andrey Lugovoi's guilt in the death of Alexander Litvinenko. Zvyagintsev stated additionally that the evidence is insufficient to begin a case against Lugovoi, a businessman and former special services officer, in Russia.
At the same press conference, deputy head of the Prosecutor General's Office's department for the investigation of especially important cases Andrey Mayorov argued that no traces of polonium were found in places in London that Lugovoi and his business partner Dmitry Kovtun visited at the alleged time of the poisoning of Litvinenko. Mayorov argued that Litvinenko was poisoned before his meeting with Lugovoi and Kovtun at the Millennium Hotel, where British investigators says they gave him poisoned tea. Mayorov called the British evidence “selective” and noted that Lugovoi and Kovtun also suffered from polonium poisoning. Mayorov said that they were poisoned by Litvinenko.
Zvyagintsev said that three requests for information in the case were sent to British authorities, who did not respond. “We sincerely hoped for effective cooperation from the British side,” Zvyagintsev said. He also stated that Britain has never presented grounds for granting Boris Berezovsky and six other Russians political refuge.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of July 24, 2007
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