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Alexander Litvinenko death gives rise to issues of ‘utmost gravity’ Alexander Litvinenko told Met police Putin ordered his murder, inquiry told
(about 1 hour later)
The killing of Alexander Litvinenko gives rise to issues of the “utmost gravity” which have attracted “worldwide interest and concern”, the chairman of the public inquiry into his death has said. Alexander Litvinenko accused Vladimir Putin of personally ordering his murder in deathbed interviews with the Metropolitan police in the days before he died, the public inquiry into his killing has heard.
Opening the inquiry on Tuesday, more than eight years after the Russian dissident was murdered in London, Sir Robert Owen vowed to carry out “a full and independent inquiry into the circumstances of the death of Alexander Litvinenko”. On the opening day of the inquiry into the Russian’s murder in 2006, the court was told that the dead man spoke to officers from his hospital bed, after being poisoned by radioactive polonium, in which he said he had “no doubt whatsoever that this was done by the Russian secret service”.
“Having knowledge of this system I know that this order about such a killing of a citizen of another country on its territory, especially if it is something to do with Great Britain, could have been given only by one person,” Litvinenko had told the investigating officer, Robin Tam QC, counsel to the inquiry, told the court on Tuesday.
Asked who that person was, said Tam, Litvinenko said: “That person is the president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. And of course, now while he is still president you won’t be able, because he is the president of a huge country crammed with nuclear chemical and bacteriological weapons.
“But I have no doubt whatsoever that as soon as the power changes in Russia, or when the first officer of the Russian secret services defects to the west … he will say that I have been poisoned by the Russian special services on Putin’s order.”
In another statement, Tam told the court, Litvinenko said he was “very upset that this criminal Putin sits at G8 as its chairman, at the same table as the [then] British prime minister, Tony Blair. Having sat this murderer next to themselves at the same table, western leaders have actually untied his hands to kill anyone, anywhere.”
Litvinenko died on 23 November 2006, 22 days after ingesting a fatal dose of the radioactive element polonium-210. “It is unusual,” Tam told the inquiry chair, Sir Robert Owen, “for a victim of murder, as Mr Litvinenko believed he might shortly be, to make a public statement about his own death.”
Litvinenko fled Russia in 2000 and was given political asylum in the UK; he became a British citizen a month before his death but remained a vocal critic of the Putin regime.
Reading from transcripts of his police interviews, Tam said the dead man told police: “Yes, they did try to kill me and possibly I will die. But I will die as a free person and my son and wife are free people.”
The court heard that Litvinenko told police he took his son Anatoly, then 12, to the Tower of London before he died, showed the boy the crown jewels and urged him to “defend this country in future until the last drop of your blood”.
The killing of Litvinenko gives rise to issues of the “utmost gravity” which have attracted “worldwide interest and concern”, Owen had earlier said. Opening the inquiry on Tuesday, more than eight years after the Russian dissident was murdered in London, he vowed to carry out “a full and independent inquiry into the circumstances of the death of Alexander Litvinenko”.
Owen has told previous hearings that he has seen evidence which amounts to a “prima facie case” that Litvinenko was murdered by the Russian state.Owen has told previous hearings that he has seen evidence which amounts to a “prima facie case” that Litvinenko was murdered by the Russian state.
He would consider evidence relating to this allegation, he said, but confirmed that it would be heard in closed session because of security sensitivities.He would consider evidence relating to this allegation, he said, but confirmed that it would be heard in closed session because of security sensitivities.
The former Russian secret service agent died 22 days after ingesting the rare isotope polonium-210. The Crown Prosecution Service has sought to prosecute two Russian men, Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun, over the murder, but Russia has refused their extradition. Litvinenko met with both men on the day of his poisoning in a London hotel. Both men deny involvement. The Crown Prosecution Service has sought to prosecute two Russian men, Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun, over Litvinenko’s murder, but Russia has refused their extradition. Litvinenko met with both men on the day of his poisoning in a London hotel. Both men deny involvement.
Owen said the two men would be invited to give evidence to the inquiry by video link.Owen said the two men would be invited to give evidence to the inquiry by video link.
The government originally refused Owen’s request for a public inquiry into the murder, admitting the decision was taken in part for fear of offending Russia. The dead man’s widow Marina Litvinenko challenged the decision in court and in February last year the high court ruled that Theresa May, the home secretary, should reconsider her decision.The government originally refused Owen’s request for a public inquiry into the murder, admitting the decision was taken in part for fear of offending Russia. The dead man’s widow Marina Litvinenko challenged the decision in court and in February last year the high court ruled that Theresa May, the home secretary, should reconsider her decision.
The government announced in July that it would grant a public inquiry, under Sir Robert Owen, days after Russia annexed the Ukrainian region of Crimea. The government announced in July that it would grant a public inquiry, under Owen, days after Russia annexed the Ukrainian region of Crimea.
The inquiry will hear evidence that Litvinenko had been ordered, as a senior officer in the FSB, to murder the Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky in 1997, Robin Tam QC, counsel to the inquiry, told the court on Tuesday. Litvinenko had disagreed with the order and warned Berezovsky of the plot, before protesting to the then head of the FSB, Vladimir Putin, in a meeting the following year, he said. The inquiry will hear evidence that Litvinenko had been ordered, as a senior officer in the FSB, to murder the Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky in 1997, Tam told the court on Tuesday. Litvinenko had disagreed with the order and warned Berezovsky of the plot, before protesting to the then head of the FSB, Vladimir Putin, in a meeting the following year, he said.
Litvinenko had spoken out publicly about corruption in the FSB in a press conference in 1998, after which he was subject to a number of attempted prosecutions. He fled the country in 2000, arriving in Britain on 1 November of that year, six years to the day before his fatal poisoning, Tam said. Once in the UK, where he later took up British citizenship, the dissident remained a vocal critic of the Putin regime. Litvinenko had spoken out publicly about corruption in the FSB in a press conference in 1998, after which he was subject to a number of attempted prosecutions.
Addressing Owen, Tam said: “You will need to consider whether Litvinenko’s sustained public attacks on the regime, on the FSB and on Mr Putin in particular, could have had any connection with his death.”Addressing Owen, Tam said: “You will need to consider whether Litvinenko’s sustained public attacks on the regime, on the FSB and on Mr Putin in particular, could have had any connection with his death.”
The inquiry is likely to hear evidence that the dead man was working for MI6 and for the Spanish security services at the time of his death, Tam told the court, though he said the British government had made clear that it would neither confirm nor deny the suggestion.The inquiry is likely to hear evidence that the dead man was working for MI6 and for the Spanish security services at the time of his death, Tam told the court, though he said the British government had made clear that it would neither confirm nor deny the suggestion.
He said the chairman would need to consider whether this could have provided a motive for the killing, and would also be required to examine allegations that Berezovsky, a close friend and patron of Litvinenko in the years before his death, was behind the murder, as some have alleged.He said the chairman would need to consider whether this could have provided a motive for the killing, and would also be required to examine allegations that Berezovsky, a close friend and patron of Litvinenko in the years before his death, was behind the murder, as some have alleged.
Tam told the court that Litvinenko’s home had been firebombed in 2004, apparently by two Chechen men.Tam told the court that Litvinenko’s home had been firebombed in 2004, apparently by two Chechen men.
In addition, he said, the dead man’s friend, the Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, was murdered in October 2006, after which Litvinenko had made a statement at the Frontline Club in London in which he blamed Putin.In addition, he said, the dead man’s friend, the Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, was murdered in October 2006, after which Litvinenko had made a statement at the Frontline Club in London in which he blamed Putin.
“Is it possible that there is any connection between this public statement and Mr Litvinenko’s poisoning less than two weeks later?”“Is it possible that there is any connection between this public statement and Mr Litvinenko’s poisoning less than two weeks later?”