UK court resumes Litvinenko hearing

On Thursday, a court in London is holding a preliminary hearing in the case of the former officer of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Alexander Litvinenko, who died of polonium poisoning in 2006. The court investigation resumed on October 11, 2011 following the request of Litvinenko’s widow Marina.

For quite a log time, British investigators have considered Russian businessman, and now the deputy of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, Andrey Lugovoi, to be the main suspect. According to them, it was Lugovoy who put a lethal dose of radioactive polonium-210 in Litvinenko’s tea during their meeting in London’s Millenium hotel on November 1, 2006. Britain demanded the extradition of Andrey Lugovoy but Russia refused. Many experts believe that the Litvinenko case seriously spoiled relations between the two countries. 

In April 2012, the British investigators checked Lugovoy on a lie detector. When asked "Did you do anything that led to Alexander Litvinenko’s death? Were you somehow involved in Alexander Litvinenko’s death? Have you ever dealt with polonium?” Lugovoy answered "No” and after the detector data was processed the innocence of Lugovoy was confirmed. Now it is time to close the investigation Andrei Lugovoy said in an interview with "the Voice Of Russia”.

"The case should have been closed way back five years ago. The lie detector check is another proof of my position, another argument for my lawyers in the court and an argument for people who should know that I had nothing to do with that crime on British territory."

But the British experts are not rushing to draw the line. Scotland Yard is insisting on a Russian trail in the murder. From time to time the British mass media recall that traces of polonium were searched for in the Russian embassy in London and on the plane of Russia’s Transaero company. The investigation continued even after a publication of the documents on the WikiLeaks website from which it became clear that the British services had known about the preparations of the assassination. It was the Russian intelligence which informed its British colleagues about the preparations. Moreover, Litvinenko’s widow publicly admitted that her husband had collaborated with the British intelligence. We hear from Andrey Lugovoy:

"Mi-5 and MI-6 are classic special services, responsible for intelligence and counterintelligence respectively. I think Litvinenko was interesting for them and they used him."

The Russian party not only provided information. It is conducting its own investigation. According to the statement on the website of the General Prosecutor’s Office, "the paymasters (behind the crime) can be the same people who are on the international wanted list for conducting other grave crimes, one of whom is Co-chairman of the Yukos company Leonid Nevzlin”. The Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky, who is residing in London and with whom Litvinenko had a quarrel shortly before his death, was also interrogated.

Anyway a number of experts do not rule out that the British special services were interested in Litvinenko’s death. That is why they regularly go back to the circumstances of his death. So far no official conclusion on the causes of Litvinanko’s has been published.