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| British Inquiry Into Death of Ex-K.G.B. Officer Begins | British Inquiry Into Death of Ex-K.G.B. Officer Begins |
| (18 minutes later) | |
| LONDON — A senior British judge opened a frequently delayed public inquiry on Tuesday into the death of Alexander V. Litvinenko, a former K.G.B. officer, whistle-blower and opponent of the Kremlin who was poisoned with a rare radioactive isotope, polonium 210, as he sipped tea in an upscale London hotel in November 2006. | LONDON — A senior British judge opened a frequently delayed public inquiry on Tuesday into the death of Alexander V. Litvinenko, a former K.G.B. officer, whistle-blower and opponent of the Kremlin who was poisoned with a rare radioactive isotope, polonium 210, as he sipped tea in an upscale London hotel in November 2006. |
| The judge, Robert Owen, has indicated that the inquiry, the most detailed public scrutiny so far of the poisoning, could last about 10 weeks and would cover Mr. Litvinenko’s personal life before and after he fled Russia in 2000 to seek asylum with his family in London. | The judge, Robert Owen, has indicated that the inquiry, the most detailed public scrutiny so far of the poisoning, could last about 10 weeks and would cover Mr. Litvinenko’s personal life before and after he fled Russia in 2000 to seek asylum with his family in London. |
| Mr. Litvinenko’s widow, Marina, entered Court 73 of the Royal Courts of Justice shortly before the hearing began at 10 a.m. In an early morning radio interview, she repeated her husband’s deathbed assertion that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia authorized the killing — an accusation that Mr. Putin has denied. | |
| The inquiry is scheduled to consider a range of potential situations, including the possible involvement of Russian state agencies, British spies and others in his death. | The inquiry is scheduled to consider a range of potential situations, including the possible involvement of Russian state agencies, British spies and others in his death. |
| As he opened the inquiry, Judge Owen said the hearings would deal with “matters of the utmost gravity,” including assertions in British government documents that there was “prima facie evidence” of Russian state involvement. | As he opened the inquiry, Judge Owen said the hearings would deal with “matters of the utmost gravity,” including assertions in British government documents that there was “prima facie evidence” of Russian state involvement. |
| He said that he would conduct a “full and independent” inquiry, although parts of it would be in secret, and that the two main suspects identified by the British authorities — Andrei K. Lugovoi and Dmitri V. Kovtun — would be invited to testify by video link from Russia. | He said that he would conduct a “full and independent” inquiry, although parts of it would be in secret, and that the two main suspects identified by the British authorities — Andrei K. Lugovoi and Dmitri V. Kovtun — would be invited to testify by video link from Russia. |
| Robin Tam, the inquiry’s counsel, reiterated that it would not address the issue of whether the British authorities should have protected Mr. Litvinenko. | Robin Tam, the inquiry’s counsel, reiterated that it would not address the issue of whether the British authorities should have protected Mr. Litvinenko. |
| Parts of Judge Owen’s final report will not make reference to evidence that the British authorities deem harmful to national security. | Parts of Judge Owen’s final report will not make reference to evidence that the British authorities deem harmful to national security. |
| Laying out his broad narrative of events, Mr. Tam said the inquiry would have to consider whether Mr. Litvinenko’s death was linked to his activities as a whistle-blower in the late 1990s in Russia – when he denounced the F.S.B., the domestic successor to the K.G.B., just as Mr. Putin was taking over as head of the organization. | Laying out his broad narrative of events, Mr. Tam said the inquiry would have to consider whether Mr. Litvinenko’s death was linked to his activities as a whistle-blower in the late 1990s in Russia – when he denounced the F.S.B., the domestic successor to the K.G.B., just as Mr. Putin was taking over as head of the organization. |
| He also said there was scientific evidence that Mr. Litvinenko had been poisoned twice with polonium, but died only after ingesting a second, larger dose on Nov. 1, 2006. In the weeks leading to that event, Mr. Tam said, Mr. Lugovoi visited London on two occasions and Mr. Kovtun once. The two men first came to the city on Oct. 16, 2006, Mr. Tam said, and they joined Mr. Litvinenko in a meeting at the offices of a private security company, where traces of polonium were later found “in many areas” of the boardroom. | He also said there was scientific evidence that Mr. Litvinenko had been poisoned twice with polonium, but died only after ingesting a second, larger dose on Nov. 1, 2006. In the weeks leading to that event, Mr. Tam said, Mr. Lugovoi visited London on two occasions and Mr. Kovtun once. The two men first came to the city on Oct. 16, 2006, Mr. Tam said, and they joined Mr. Litvinenko in a meeting at the offices of a private security company, where traces of polonium were later found “in many areas” of the boardroom. |
| Scientists who examined Mr. Litvinenko’s hair samples after his death found evidence that he ingested polonium on another occasion at around the same time — two weeks before the meeting at the Millennium Hotel, where he was believed to have been fatally poisoned. | |
| Mr. Tam also said the inquiry would call a witness to testify in return for anonymity from Hamburg, Germany, where Mr. Kovtun had once worked in a restaurant and where he sometimes visited his former wife. | |
| During a meeting in Hamburg with a former co-worker shortly before he flew to London on Nov. 1, 2006, Mr. Kovtun criticized Mr. Litvinenko as a traitor, boasted that he had “a very expensive poison” and asked whether his former colleague knew a cook in London, Mr. Tam said. | During a meeting in Hamburg with a former co-worker shortly before he flew to London on Nov. 1, 2006, Mr. Kovtun criticized Mr. Litvinenko as a traitor, boasted that he had “a very expensive poison” and asked whether his former colleague knew a cook in London, Mr. Tam said. |
| He needed the cook, according to Mr. Tam, to place the poison in food or drink. The former co-worker obtained a phone number for a cook, and telephone records showed that someone who gave his name as Dmitri called the cook in London on Nov. 1, 2006, at around the time Mr. Kovtun arrived from Hamburg and went to join Mr. Lugovoi. The call was made from a cellphone owned by Mr. Lugovoi, potentially suggesting a direct link between Mr. Kovtun, Mr. Lugovoi and the purported conversations in Hamburg about a poisoning. | He needed the cook, according to Mr. Tam, to place the poison in food or drink. The former co-worker obtained a phone number for a cook, and telephone records showed that someone who gave his name as Dmitri called the cook in London on Nov. 1, 2006, at around the time Mr. Kovtun arrived from Hamburg and went to join Mr. Lugovoi. The call was made from a cellphone owned by Mr. Lugovoi, potentially suggesting a direct link between Mr. Kovtun, Mr. Lugovoi and the purported conversations in Hamburg about a poisoning. |
| Mr. Litvinenko, 43, died on Nov. 23, 2006, but the presence of lethal levels of polonium was made known only a day after his death. The British authorities have said Mr. Lugovoi and Mr. Kovtun were with Mr. Litvinenko when he had tea in the Pine Bar of the Millennium Hotel in Grosvenor Square, close to the United States Embassy in central London. | Mr. Litvinenko, 43, died on Nov. 23, 2006, but the presence of lethal levels of polonium was made known only a day after his death. The British authorities have said Mr. Lugovoi and Mr. Kovtun were with Mr. Litvinenko when he had tea in the Pine Bar of the Millennium Hotel in Grosvenor Square, close to the United States Embassy in central London. |
| Both men have denied killing Mr. Litvinenko, accusing the former K.G.B. officer of seeking to poison them. British prosecutors have sought the extradition of Mr. Lugovoi, a former K.G.B. bodyguard, but the Russian authorities have refused to hand him over, citing constitutional constraints. | Both men have denied killing Mr. Litvinenko, accusing the former K.G.B. officer of seeking to poison them. British prosecutors have sought the extradition of Mr. Lugovoi, a former K.G.B. bodyguard, but the Russian authorities have refused to hand him over, citing constitutional constraints. |
| Since Mr. Litvinenko’s death, Mr. Lugovoi has become a member of the Russian Parliament. | Since Mr. Litvinenko’s death, Mr. Lugovoi has become a member of the Russian Parliament. |
| On Tuesday, Mr. Tam quoted at length from a statement by Mr. Lugovoi in which he accused Mr. Litvinenko of plotting with Mr. Kovtun to blackmail another of the key players in the drama – Boris A. Berezovsky, a former oligarch and mentor who died by hanging in still unexplained circumstances in 2013. | On Tuesday, Mr. Tam quoted at length from a statement by Mr. Lugovoi in which he accused Mr. Litvinenko of plotting with Mr. Kovtun to blackmail another of the key players in the drama – Boris A. Berezovsky, a former oligarch and mentor who died by hanging in still unexplained circumstances in 2013. |
| Mr. Berezovksy, like Mr. Litvinenko, was a visceral enemy of Mr. Putin and also fled to London to seek asylum in 2000. Mr. Lugovoi was also quoted as saying the encounter in the Pine Bar could not have taken place “without the control of the British secret services.” | Mr. Berezovksy, like Mr. Litvinenko, was a visceral enemy of Mr. Putin and also fled to London to seek asylum in 2000. Mr. Lugovoi was also quoted as saying the encounter in the Pine Bar could not have taken place “without the control of the British secret services.” |
| In the prelude to the inquiry, new strands of potential evidence have emerged in news reports suggesting variously that the poisoning was the third attempt on Mr. Litvinenko’s life and that, one year before he died, he had recorded a secret audiotape linking Mr. Putin to a Ukrainian crime boss. | In the prelude to the inquiry, new strands of potential evidence have emerged in news reports suggesting variously that the poisoning was the third attempt on Mr. Litvinenko’s life and that, one year before he died, he had recorded a secret audiotape linking Mr. Putin to a Ukrainian crime boss. |
| In a contentious statement from his deathbed, Mr. Litvinenko blamed Mr. Putin for the poisoning, but the Russian leader has denied the accusation. | In a contentious statement from his deathbed, Mr. Litvinenko blamed Mr. Putin for the poisoning, but the Russian leader has denied the accusation. |
| Mr. Tam read out Mr. Litvinenko’s ringing denunciation of Mr. Putin at the hearing on Tuesday. | Mr. Tam read out Mr. Litvinenko’s ringing denunciation of Mr. Putin at the hearing on Tuesday. |
| Russian prosecutors, who once held the status of so-called core participants at the inquiry, have withdrawn, and Moscow has ridiculed the hearings as a sham because of the levels of secrecy shrouding central witnesses and testimony. | Russian prosecutors, who once held the status of so-called core participants at the inquiry, have withdrawn, and Moscow has ridiculed the hearings as a sham because of the levels of secrecy shrouding central witnesses and testimony. |