The inquest into the death in Britain of Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko was close to collapse yesterday after the coroner ruled he could not hear evidence about the alleged role of the Kremlin in his poisoning.
Litvinenko’s widow Marina said she was “utterly dismayed” by the decision. She accused Britain of making a deal with Moscow to improve relations chilled by the murder of her husband, who once worked as a spy for Russia.
Coroner Robert Owen announced his decision in a pre-hearing ruling on Friday following an application by Britain’s foreign ministry to keep the information concerning Russia secret.
However, Owen said he would be failing in his duty “to undertake a full, fair and fearless inquiry into the circumstances of Mr Litvinenko’s death” if he was forced to disregard the evidence for national security reasons.
He suggested that the death could instead be considered in a public inquiry in which the evidence alleging Russian state involvement “could be taken into account.”
Under English law, evidence cannot be heard in secret as part of an inquest, but can be presented behind closed doors as part of a public inquiry.
The coroner said he now wanted to hear submissions from Marina Litvinenko and the couple’s son on the possibility of holding an inquiry, parts of which would have to take place behind closed doors.
Litvinenko died after he was poisoned with radioactive polonium-210 slipped into his tea in 2006.
Marina Litvinenko’s solicitors said it was a “very sad day for British justice.”
Their statement went on: “The effect of today’s ruling is to protect those responsible for ordering the murder of a British citizen on the streets of London, and to allow the Russian government to shield behind a claim for secrecy made by [British Foreign Secretary] William Hague with the backing of the Prime Minister David Cameron.”
She said it was a “frightening precedent” for people trying to hold to account the “conspiracy of organised criminals that operate from the Kremlin.”
There was no immediate reaction from Russia.
Hague has sought to prevent information regarding the death from being revealed during the inquest, which is due to start later this year.
The coroner said he partly agreed with Hague’s request.
It is thought Litvinenko was working for British intelligence at the time of his death and his family believe he was killed on the orders of the Kremlin.
British police have sought the arrest of two Russian nationals in relation to the death — Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitri Kovtun — but Moscow has refused to hand them over.
The Litvinenko case plunged relations between Russia and Britain into a deep freeze from which they have only recently emerged.
Alex Goldfarb, a friend of the Litvinenko family, said the coroner’s decision was “deeply dismaying.”
“It appears the British government is more concerned about the use of chemical weapons in Syria than radioactive weapons being used on the streets of London,” he said.
“On the other hand, it’s an admission by the British government that the Russian state is culpable because otherwise they would not have requested immunity,” he said. “That in itself is a partial victory for Marina.”
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
UNREST: The authorities in Turkey arrested 13 Turkish journalists in five days, deported a BBC correspondent and on Thursday arrested a reporter from Sweden Waving flags and chanting slogans, many hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators on Saturday rallied in Istanbul, Turkey, in defence of democracy after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu which sparked Turkey’s worst street unrest in more than a decade. Under a cloudless blue sky, vast crowds gathered in Maltepe on the Asian side of Turkey’s biggest city on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr celebration which started yesterday, marking the end of Ramadan. Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which organized the rally, said there were 2.2 million people in the crowd, but
RSS