Litvinenko suspect accuses family of "commercial interests" (1st Lead)

Nov 23, 2007, 10:51 GMT

London/Moscow - The only named suspect in the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko called his family's interest in the case 'commercial' as they appealed Friday for those responsible to be punished.

Spelling out moves to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights, the family's lawyer, Louise Christian, called on the British government to continue the search for justice.

Murder suspect Andrei Lugovoi, who was campaigning for the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party, said he was not bothered by the news that Litvinenko's window Maria was taking him to the European court.

He said the British government's case against him was commercially driven, and called the anniversary 'an excuse' for agitation sponsored by the British secret service.

'The European court has nothing whatsoever to do with this and I don't think that the widow is acting on her own. The British secret services are behind this,' Litvinenko told journalists on Thursday.

'What books weren't published, what scripts and films weren't planned last year ... [Litvinenko's] relatives have purely commercial interests now,' Lugovoi said, accusing the family of the 'maximum possible display of cynicism.'

Lugovoi, who met with Litvinenko in London the day he fell ill, also expressed his annoyance that Litvinenko had been falsely portrayed by the British government since he died of radioactive polonium poisoning on November 23.

'What really irks me is that the British authorities portray him as just a dissident writer, but in fact, he was a spy turned against his mother country,' Lugovoi said.

The case has led to a chill in Anglo-Russian relations, culminating in tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats after Russia refused Britain's request for the extradition of Lugovoi, who could win immunity if his party is voted into parliament on December 2.

'If serious crime on the scale of this poisoning is allowed to go unpunished, it brings into disrepute the whole authority of the police, the courts and the government,' Christian said in London on Friday.

'The British government must ensure this does not happen. The rule of law itself will be under threat if there is any suggestion that justice has been compromised because of diplomatic or foreign policy considerations.'

But Lugovoi said that the evidence was 'all lies' and accused British prosecutors of interfering in Russia's own investigation.

He said the videos from London's Millennium Hotel that registered the dates of his meeting had been spirited away by British investigators, undermining their case.

Just before his death, Litvinenko was investigating the slaying of Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist and critic of President Vladimir Putin.

Litvinenko, himself a veteran spy who was granted political asylum in Britain, blamed Putin on his deathbed. The Kremlin has denied the allegations.

Litvinenko's wife, Marina, was Friday expected to be joined by supporters outside the hospital where her husband died.

A message accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of being behind his murder, released on the day of the death, is to be read out again by supporters.