Accusations fly as Litvinenko case goes to European Court (Roundup)

Nov 23, 2007, 14:34 GMT

London/Moscow - One year after the spectacular death from radioactive poisoning of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko his family Friday detailed legal moves to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.

'It looks unlikely that diplomacy and legal processes will result in bringing the perpetrators of this murder to justice here in London,' Alex Goldfarb, a family friend and spokesman, told a news conference.

Instead, supporters would step up their international campaign and speak about the 'culpability of the Russian government' in the death of Litvinenko on November 23, 2006.

British lawyer Louise Christian said legal papers had been filed Thursday accusing the Russian government of complicity in the murder, and of failing to carry out a proper investigation into the death.

Litvinenko's widow, Marina, who also spoke at the news conference, accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of 'protecting and endorsing' her husband's killer.

'By doing so, Putin has tainted his office, his government and himself with this horrendous crime. He turned a murderer into a national symbol,' she said.

The remarks brought an instant and defiant response from Andrei Lugovoi, the former agent and businessman who Britain says is responsible for the poisoning of Litvinenko.

Litvinenko died from a 'significant dose' of the radioactive isotope polonium-210, probably administered with a cup of tea, British investigators have said.

He fell ill after meeting Lugovoi, and another former Russian agent, in a London hotel on November 1, 2006.

Speaking in Moscow, Lugovoi said the British government's case against him was 'commercially driven,' and the anniversary was being used as an 'excuse for agitation sponsored by the British secret service.'

He alleged that videos from London's Millennium Hotel which registered the dates of his meeting had been 'spirited away' by British investigators.

Lugovoi, who is now campaigning for Russia's ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party, said he was not bothered by the case being taken to the European Human Rights Court.

'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,' Lugovoi told journalists.

'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 also expressed his annoyance that Litvinenko had been 'falsely portrayed' by the British government.

'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.

In London, Litvinenko's father, Walter, barely able to suppress his anger, accused Lugovoi as being the 'chief executioner' in the polonium plot.

'The gangsters who poisoned my son are even today trying to show the whole world that they can get away with anything. As a reward, the chief executioner, Mr Lugovoi, has now been given a seat in the Duma (Russian parliament),' said Walter Litvinenko.

Putin, meanwhile, was 'afraid to leave his position' as he needed to maintain power to 'cover up this crime.'

Western and European leaders should take the case seriously, 'because the gas and oil they buy from Russia may turn them into something rather more sinister.'

The Litvinenko 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,' solicitor Christian said.

'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,' she said.

She said that a US nuclear expert had traced the source of the polonium-210 to the state-controlled Avangard plant in Russia.