Russia to make statement on Litvinenko case Monday

[december]

Russia to make statement on Litvinenko case Monday


21/ 07/ 2007



http://img.rian.ru/images/5659/98/56599852.jpg



MOSCOW, July 21 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Prosecutor General's Office will make Monday an official statement regarding its cooperation with British authorities in the investigation of the widely-politicized murder of Alexander Litvinenko.

"On July 23, the Prosecutor General's Office will hold a news conference on cooperation with the U.K. in the so-called Alexander Litvinenko case," the prosecutor's office said on its web site.

Russia expelled four British diplomats Thursday and suspended cooperation in fighting terrorism with Britain, following London's expulsions of Russians, amid a bitter row over Moscow's refusal to extradite the main suspect in the murder of former security officer Litvinenko, a British national.

British prosecutors have charged multi-millionaire businessman Andrei Lugovoi, a former Kremlin bodyguard, with poisoning Litvinenko with a radioactive polonium isotope at a London hotel in November. Lugovoi denies the charges, and Russia says its Constitution does not allow for the extradition of its nationals.

European countries and the United States have backed London in the dispute, urging Russia to extradite the suspect.

President Vladimir Putin, speaking after a meeting with Hungarian and Finish leaders in the Russian Republic of Mordovia Thursday, played down the dispute with London, calling it a "mini-crisis".

"I am sure that Russian-British relations will develop in an appropriate way... Both Russia and Britain are interested in boosting their cooperation," Putin said.

Russia's foreign minister said earlier that London had failed to set out its case against Lugovoi.

"We have still not been provided with the [Litvinenko] case files and do not know what exactly prompted British prosecutors to charge him [Lugovoi], and obviously we cannot violate our laws, just as Britain cannot violate its laws," Sergei Lavrov said.

Lavrov also suggested that the British measures were a "test of strength" by the country's new Cabinet. "In many respects, it is a new-government factor," he said, adding that Prime Minister Gordon Brown could eventually find an appropriate tone in dealing with Russia.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070721/69405339.html

http://img.rian.ru/images/5662/43/56624350.jpg

A hearse bearing a coffin with the remains of murdered former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko arrives at Highgate cemetery in London, 07 December 2006.

http://img.rian.ru/images/5662/44/56624433.jpg

A coffin bearing the remains of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko is prepared for burial at Highgate Cemetery in north London, 07 December 2006.

http://img.rian.ru/images/5662/44/56624420.jpg

A special air-tight coffin bearing the remains of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko is prepared for burial at Highgate Cemetery in north London, 07 December 2006.

[december]

Britain wants Russia to break its law


This week, I was notified that four of my Embassy staff would have to gather their belongings and return home, summarily expelled by the British Government. This serious diplomatic move, and deliberate escalation of tensions, was in response to the Russian authorities turning down a request by the Crown Prosecution Service to extradite a Russian national to Britain. It has been met with the considered and appropriate reciprocal expulsion of four Moscow-based British diplomats.

In the fog of so much recent speculation and comment, let me make one point absolutely clear. The killing of Alexander Litvinenko was a heinous and appalling crime. Those responsible for Litvinenko's death must, without question, be brought to justice. It raises the question, therefore: why won't Russia extradite Andrei Lugovoi, the man wanted by the British authorities for the murder?

The reason is simple. Enshrined in Article 61 of the Russian Constitution, "a citizen of the Russian Federation may not be deported from Russia or extradited to another State". Russia is not alone - many other countries protect its citizens through similar provisions. Moreover, when the Russian Federation ratified the European Convention on Extradition, it entered a specific declaration - citing the constitution - to prevent the extradition of Russian citizens to foreign states. As a party to the convention, the UK both acknowledged and accepted this.

Prevented by law from extraditing Mr Lugovoi, the government has assured the British authorities on numerous occasions in recent weeks that any substantial evidence supplied by the Crown Prosecution Service will be used to pursue the case through the Russian courts. To most impartial observers, this would seem fair enough. Certainly the precedent is clear: In recent years there have been close to 200 cases in which Russian nationals alleged to have committed crimes in other countries have been tried in Russia. Those found guilty have been convicted and sentenced. It's difficult to comprehend why what works for Canada and Switzerland does not for the UK.


The British Government continues to insist that Russia extradites Mr Lugovoi and, by so doing, overturn a key provision of our constitution. The Russian Constitution underpins and guarantees our new era of Russian statehood. Drafted during the Yeltsin presidency, more than 59 million people - close to the entire population of the UK - took part in the national referendum which delivered a clear majority voting for it to become law. In reflecting on this week's events, few people in Russia have failed to spot the irony of the UK justifying its actions by citing the sanctity of UK law, while making the express request that Russia breaks its own.

The extradition of foreign nationals between nation states is a two-way street. Russia has requested the extradition of 21 people to face trial in Russia for a variety of alleged offences in recent years. These include Akhmed Zakayev, who is sought in connection with alleged terrorism offences, most notably the murder of 120 people in the Moscow theatre siege, as well as Boris Berezovsky, wanted in connection with charges of misappropriation of funds and fraud, including the alleged embezzlement of £4.2 million from the national flagship air carrier Aeroflot.

Russia is not alone; just last week, a warrant for the arrest of Berezovsky was issued by a Brazilian judge following allegations of money-laundering and involvement with organised crime. Yet despite the intense anger felt by many Russians that those wanted for grave crimes escape justice because of the protection afforded to them by the British state, the Russian Government has patiently and diligently pursued these matters through the correct legal channels. At no point has the Russian Government chosen to take action against the UK with regard to these matters.

Whereas 20 years ago Britain and Russia had no real trade relationship, it is now critical to both countries. During the first three months of 2007, British investments in Russia grew more than four times on the same period the year before, making Britain's investments the third largest of any country in the world.

It works both ways: more than 50 Russian and Russia-focused companies are listed and traded on the main and alternative investment markets of the London Stock Exchange, with the British Exchequer, of course, being a considerable beneficiary. Meanwhile, the need for co-operation in addressing a range of threats, from North Korea to international terrorism, has seldom been greater. Neither side, it seems, stands to gain anything from a further deterioration of relations.

Looking back at the last week, one point is clear: this dispute has not been of Russia's making. With a thriving trade relationship, and as fellow G8 partners, UN Security Council permanent members and Kyoto signatories, we have much more that should keep us together than pull us apart. Russia has made it clear that it values its relations with the UK and seeks a close and constructive relationship. The ball is in Britain's court.

Yury Fedotov is the Russian Ambassador to the Court of St James's

Source -

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/07/21/do2107.xml


"We have still not been provided with the [Litvinenko] case files and do not know what exactly prompted British prosecutors to charge him [Lugovoi], and obviously we cannot violate our laws, just as Britain cannot violate its laws," Sergei Lavrov said.

http://www.un.org/av/photo/sc/images/une3113.jpg

Sergey Lavrov (Russian: Серге́й Ви́кторович Лавро́в, born March 21, 1950, in Moscow) is the Foreign Minister of Russia.


Andrei Lugovoi

http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061206/061206_russia_vsml_330a.component.jpg

[december]

Berezovsky may be accessorial to Litvinenko’s death

The British government began tracking radioactive hotspots in London on Monday to trace the poison that killed a former KGB agent, and three people who reported possible symptoms of contamination underwent testing.

Britain announced a formal inquest into the death of Alexander Litvinenko, but Home Secretary John Reid warned against rushing to conclusions over who might be responsible for the killing of the ex-spy turned Kremlin critic.

Litvinenko died Thursday after falling ill from what doctors said was poisoning by polonium-210, a radioactive isotope usually manufactured in specialized nuclear facilities. High doses of polonium, which is deadly if ingested or inhaled, were found in Litvinenko's body, the AP reports.

Police said traces of polonium-210 had been discovered in offices at 7 Down St. and 25 Grosvenor Sq. in central London. These offices are owned by the exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky They declined to provide further details, including why those addresses had come to the attention of investigators.

News media here reported that Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky, another Putin critic who won asylum in Britain after fleeing Russia, maintains an office at the 7 Down St. building. Sky News reported that Litvinenko had visited a security company with offices at the Grosvenor Square building.

Litvinenko, a former colonel in the Federal Security Service, or FSB, the domestic successor to the KGB, publicly accused FSB agents of involvement in apartment building bombings in 1999 that killed more than 300 people. He also accused his FSB superiors of ordering him to kill Berezovsky.

Berezovsky said in a telephone interview last week that he visited Litvinenko in the hospital during his illness and said Litvinenko told him he had "no doubt" that he had been poisoned on the "order from President Putin to kill him." Berezovsky said poisoning was "a classic way" that Russian agents work, the Washington Post reports.

Radiological testing has been ordered for three people who may have come into contact with the poison that killed a former KGB agent turned Kremlin critic, health officials said.

Health officials will test the urine of the three — none of whom were health workers who treated Litvinenko, Lewis said. The tests should take about a week, irishexaminer.com says.


http://globalfire.tv/nj/graphs/beresovski.jpg

Boris Berezovsky

Boris Berezovsky stole money from Russia during lawless time right after the end of the Soviet Union and then fled to UK...


READ MORE -

http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/oligarchs.htm#BEREZOVSKY

Russia's Jewish Robber Barons

The Jewish oligarchs used cheating, bribery and murder, as they exploited the disintegration of the Soviet system to loot the treasures of the state and to amass plunder amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars.

http://globalfire.tv/nj/05en/politics/robberbarons.htm

[december]

Russia demands evidence in Litvinenko case

25/ 07/ 2007


MOSCOW, July 25 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Prosecutor General's Office has not yet received a single document in the Alexander Litvinenko murder case from Britain, a senior investigator said Wednesday.

In an interview with the daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta to be published Thursday, Andrei Mayorov said: "We have not received a single document in the Litvinenko case. Technically, we do not even know what he died of, as unfortunately, we have received all our information about the Polonium-210 poisoning from so-called open sources."

In early July, Russian prosecutors formally refused to extradite former Kremlin bodyguard-turned-businessman Andrei Lugovoi, accused by the U.K. of fatally poisoning former Russian security officer and Kremlin critic Litvinenko in London last November, citing the Constitution.

Mayorov told the paper that Britain's extradition request contained general conclusions lacking proof, and that Britain had not yet provided the results of its Litvinenko probe.

Reiterating earlier statements on the matter from Russian officials, Mayorov said in the request that Scotland Yard emphasized the political rather than the legal aspects of the case. "A huge part of the document was devoted to what they call the history of Litvinenko's struggle against allegedly illegal activities of the FSB [Federal Security Service]," he said.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown earlier denied his country was politicizing the Litvinenko case. "We cannot tolerate a situation where all the evidence is that not only was one person assassinated but many other people were put at risk," he said.

A row over the murder has led to Britain expelling four Russian diplomats last week and announcing visa restrictions for Russian officials and similar measures from Moscow.

President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday Britain's demand that Russia extradite Lugovoi and amend its Constitution to this end showed the country retained a colonialist mentality, the remarks, which will likely to heighten the row.

"What they are proposing is obviously a vestige of colonial thinking," Putin said at a meeting with youth organizations at the presidential residence in Zavidovo, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) northwest of Moscow.

Putin said London was still harboring 30 people wanted in Russia on grave charges, including tycoon Boris Berezovsky, accused of massive fraud and plotting a coup in Russia, and Chechen emissary Akhmed Zakayev, considered a terrorist by Moscow. Russia's repeated requests for their extradition have been rejected by London.

"They do not extradite people who are hiding on their territory, including individuals suspected of or charged with terrorist activities, but make serious claims to other countries and give insulting recommendations to change the Constitution," Putin said.

The remarks came following Putin's attempt last week to play down what he called a "mini-crisis" with London, saying he was positive the problems would be resolved.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070725/69670195.html

[december]

Lugovoi sues paper for defamation in polonium poisoning report

17/ 09/ 2007

MOSCOW, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - Andrei Lugovoi, wanted in Britain over the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, has sued Russian newspaper Kommersant for an article he said portrays him as a murderer, the businessman's lawyer said Monday.

A Moscow court is expected to discuss later Monday a possible amicable settlement or to schedule hearings on the lawsuit, in which Lugovoi is demanding 20 million rubles (about $790,000) in compensation for a statement damaging his reputation, and a denial in the paper.

Lugovoi, an ex-Kremlin bodyguard, who London accuses of poisoning Litvinenko, a former FSB officer and Kremlin critic, with a fatal dose of radioactive polonium last November, took legal action over the business paper's article printed on July 9.

The paper said that "after Britain's Crown Prosecution Service accused him of murdering... Litvinenko, Lugovoi was the first to tell about his victim's ties to British intelligence services."

Lawyer Tatyana Stukalova said: "My client believes by saying that 'Lugovoi was the first to tell about his victim's ties [with British intelligence services]' ... the paper imposed its viewpoint on readers and portrayed Lugovoi as a culprit."

"We believe the article reports information that does not reflect the truth, and blemishes Lugovoi's dignity and business reputation," she said.

Russia's refusal to extradite Lugovoi to the U.K. has proved a major source of contention in relations between the countries, and in July sparked a tit-for-tat row involving expulsions of diplomats and visa restrictions.

Moscow has denied London's extradition requests citing its Constitution, which bars the extradition of Russian nationals. Russian authorities said they could try Lugovoi at home if Scotland Yard investigators provide substantiated evidence.

On Sunday Lugovoi, a millionaire businessman who owns a private security company, confirmed that he would run for parliament as a candidate for the Liberal Democratic Party, led by outspoken pro-Kremlin ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky. A seat in the State Duma would give Lugovoi immunity from prosecution under Russian law.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070917/79037793.html

[peachped]

Boris Berezovsky has a past with the newspaper Kommersant.

Kommersant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia