Litvinenko lawyer accuses Britain, Russia of cover-up
Britain seeks to withhold info from inquest
LONDON, Feb 26, (RTRS): The lawyer for the family of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, who was murdered in London in 2006, accused Britain and Russia on Tuesday of colluding to try to shut down an inquiry into his death for the sake of lucrative trade deals.
Litvinenko, who had been granted British citizenship and had become a vocal crit- ic of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, died after someone slipped polonium-210, a rare radioactive isotope, into his cup of tea at a plush London hotel.
At a pre-inquest hearing at London’s Royal Courts of Justice, lawyers for Litvinenko’s widow said Britain was now trying to keep secret details of his work for its MI6 intelligence service, and material which showed Russia was behind his death.
“It is crucial, absolutely crucial, that the outcome of this hearing is to scotch, once and for all, any possible suggestion that it is because (British Prime Minister) David Cameron is interested in promoting trade with Russia that he is trying to close down the truth about this inquest,” said Marina Litvinenko’s lawyer, Ben Emmerson.
British police and prosecutors say there is enough evidence to charge two former KGB agents, Andrei Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun, with murder, while Litvinenko put his name to a deathbed statement accusing Putin of ordering his death to silence him, a claim dismissed by the Kremlin as nonsense.
Russia refused to extradite Lugovoy, who denies any involvement in the killing, and ties between Britain and Russia fell to a post-Cold War low in the immediate aftermath.
However, Cameron has sought to improve relations and strengthen business links since he came to power in 2010.
He secured £215 million ($325 million) worth of business deals during a flying 24hour visit to Russia in September, 2011. Britain has been the fifth-largest investor in the Russian economy since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, according to Russian statistics.
At Tuesday’s hearing, lawyers for British Foreign Secretary William Hague argued sensitive information held by the government about Litvinenko should be subject to a public interest immunity (PII) certificate, preventing it from being publicly revealed.
“The disclosure of material would pose a real risk of serious harm to public interest,” said lawyer Neil Sheldon. Hague, he said, had considered all other options but had concluded nothing short of a PII certificate would be sufficient.
At a hearing in December, a lawyer acting on behalf of the inquest indicated Britain held information which established “a prima facie case as to the culpability of the Russian state”.
Emmerson said withholding such material would defeat the whole purpose of the inquest, which is held under British law when a person dies unexpectedly to determine the cause of death.