Rubiconic Crossings
22-05-2007, 13:07
So what are the odds of this happening? Prosecution that is...
I'd say a big fat 0
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6678887.stm
Russian faces Litvinenko charge
A former KGB officer should be charged with the murder by poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, the UK's director of public prosecutions has recommended.
Sir Ken Macdonald said Andrei Lugovoi, who has denied any involvement, should face trial for the "grave crime".
Mr Litvinenko, 43, an ex-FSB agent and a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died in London last November.
Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said she had told the Russian ambassador that she expected "full co-operation".
However, the Russian prosecutor-general's office has said it will not hand over Mr Lugovoi, the Interfax news agency reported.
Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General, said he agreed with the decision by the Crown Prosecution Service, which had been arrived at after consultation with him.
Mr Litvinenko, who was granted political asylum in the UK in 2000 and went on to take British citizenship, died at University College Hospital on 23 November.
He had been exposed to the radioactive isotope polonium-210.
Sir Ken told a news conference: "I have today concluded that the evidence sent to us by the police is sufficient to charge Andrei Lugovoi with the murder of Mr Litvinenko by deliberate poisoning.
"I have further concluded that a prosecution of this case would clearly be in the public interest.
"In those circumstances, I have instructed CPS lawyers to take immediate steps to seek the early extradition of Andrei Lugovoi from Russia to the United Kingdom, so that he may be charged with murder - and be brought swiftly before a court in London to be prosecuted for this extraordinarily grave crime."
Mr Litvinenko's widow Marina said that she welcomed the decision.
She said: "I am now very anxious to see that justice is really done and that Mr Lugovoi is extradited and brought to trial in a UK court."
The counter-terrorism command of the Metropolitan Police has been conducting a detailed international investigation into Mr Litvinenko's death.
The police inquiry, during which officers followed a trail of polonium radioactivity at a series of locations visited by Mr Litvinenko in London before he died, eventually took them to Moscow.
His friends, including London-based Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky, have accused the Kremlin of ordering his assassination but the Russian government has rejected such claims.
Diplomatic relations between Russia and the UK have been strained by the case.
BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said it was hard to see how Mr Lugovoi could be extradited given Moscow's attitude.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said that the Foreign Office permanent under-secretary had met with the Russian Ambassador to "underline that they should comply with the extradition request".
He added the government has "left nobody in any doubt at all as to the seriousness with which we view this case".
I'd say a big fat 0
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6678887.stm
Russian faces Litvinenko charge
A former KGB officer should be charged with the murder by poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, the UK's director of public prosecutions has recommended.
Sir Ken Macdonald said Andrei Lugovoi, who has denied any involvement, should face trial for the "grave crime".
Mr Litvinenko, 43, an ex-FSB agent and a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died in London last November.
Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said she had told the Russian ambassador that she expected "full co-operation".
However, the Russian prosecutor-general's office has said it will not hand over Mr Lugovoi, the Interfax news agency reported.
Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General, said he agreed with the decision by the Crown Prosecution Service, which had been arrived at after consultation with him.
Mr Litvinenko, who was granted political asylum in the UK in 2000 and went on to take British citizenship, died at University College Hospital on 23 November.
He had been exposed to the radioactive isotope polonium-210.
Sir Ken told a news conference: "I have today concluded that the evidence sent to us by the police is sufficient to charge Andrei Lugovoi with the murder of Mr Litvinenko by deliberate poisoning.
"I have further concluded that a prosecution of this case would clearly be in the public interest.
"In those circumstances, I have instructed CPS lawyers to take immediate steps to seek the early extradition of Andrei Lugovoi from Russia to the United Kingdom, so that he may be charged with murder - and be brought swiftly before a court in London to be prosecuted for this extraordinarily grave crime."
Mr Litvinenko's widow Marina said that she welcomed the decision.
She said: "I am now very anxious to see that justice is really done and that Mr Lugovoi is extradited and brought to trial in a UK court."
The counter-terrorism command of the Metropolitan Police has been conducting a detailed international investigation into Mr Litvinenko's death.
The police inquiry, during which officers followed a trail of polonium radioactivity at a series of locations visited by Mr Litvinenko in London before he died, eventually took them to Moscow.
His friends, including London-based Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky, have accused the Kremlin of ordering his assassination but the Russian government has rejected such claims.
Diplomatic relations between Russia and the UK have been strained by the case.
BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said it was hard to see how Mr Lugovoi could be extradited given Moscow's attitude.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said that the Foreign Office permanent under-secretary had met with the Russian Ambassador to "underline that they should comply with the extradition request".
He added the government has "left nobody in any doubt at all as to the seriousness with which we view this case".