Former KGB Agent Andrei Lugovoy Charged in Litvinenko Murder Case
by John Little on 22/05/2007I wonder how long Andrei Lugovoy will be with us now. I expect Pravda to report any day now that he’s been buried in an avalanche, eaten by bears, or killed in a tragic skateboarding accident. I’ll be shocked if he makes this trial:
Sir Ken MacDonald, Director of Public Prosecutions, said today that a Metropolitan Police dossier had identified Mr Lugovoy – one of two or three Russian men who met Litvinenko at the Millennium Hotel – as a suspect in the killing. Litvinenko died of radiation sickness at University College Hospital on November 23.
“I have concluded that the evidence sent to us by police is sufficient to charge Andrei Lugovoy with the murder of Mr Litvinenko by deliberate poisoning,” Sir Ken said in a statement delivered to reporters this morning.
“I have further concluded that a prosecution of this case would clearly be in the public interest. I have instructed CPS lawyers to take immediate steps to seek the early extradition of Andrei Lugovoy from Russia to the United Kingdom, so that he may be charged with murder – and be brought swiftly before a court in London to be prosecuted for this extraordinarily grave crime.”
The decision to charge Mr Lugovoy was welcomed by Marina Litvinenko, his widow. In a statement this morning, Mrs Litvinenko thanked Scotland Yard and the CPS for their “hard work” investigating her husband’s murder.
It seems unlikely that he’ll be extradited:
“In accordance with Russian law, citizens of Russia cannot be turned over to foreign states,” the agency quoted prosecutor’s office spokeswoman Marina Gridneva as saying.
The office could not immediately be reached by The Associated Press for confirmation.
However, a Russian lawmaker raised doubts about the reported claim that Russian law prevented such extraditions.
Yuri Sharandin, chairman of the constitutional legislation committee of the Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, said it was possible for Russia to extradite its citizens, but that it also could refuse such requests.
Sharandin said on Ekho Moskvy radio that the matter would come under the European Convention on Extradition, to which both Russia and Britain are signatories.
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