Poisoning link whistleblower feared for life
A RUSSIAN whistleblower who died while jogging avoided going to his homeland as he “feared for his life”, an inquest heard.
A month earlier debt-ridden Alexander Perepilichnyy, 44, won a legal battle against a firm led by the prime suspect in the fatal poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, the hearing was told.
He died near his home in Weybridge, Surrey, in November 2012. Mr Perepilichnyy had been helping a specialist firm uncover a £150million Russian moneylaundering operation.
Via video from Moscow to the Old Bailey hearing, lawyer Dimitry Lipkin, who represented Mr Perepilichnyy in civil debt cases, said he had missed a court case in Russia as he was “fearful for his life”. Inquest continues.