Russia unwilling to hand over Litvinenko suspect to Yard

Luke Harding
The Guardian
Jan. 29, 2007

Russia said yesterday it was not willing to hand over to Britain the businessman suspected by Scotland Yard of poisoning the former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko.

Russian prosecutors said there was virtually no prospect they would agree to any future British request for Andrei Lugovoi to be extradited to the UK to stand trial.

Senior Whitehall officials have told the Guardian that a Scotland Yard file on Mr Litvinenko's murder, which is about to be passed to the Crown Prosecution Service, alleges there is sufficient evidence against Mr Lugovoi for the CPS to decide whether he should face prosecution.

But yesterday sources in Russia's prosecutor's office said Mr Lugovoi would not leave Moscow. "If a request for Lugovoi's extradition arrives from London, the following answer will most likely be given to it: the constitution of Russia prohibits extradition of its citizens," the official said. He said Mr Lugovoi could be tried in Russia for a crime committed abroad "if there is evidence proving his guilt".

Yesterday Mr Lugovoi shrugged off the accusation against him and repeated his denials that he had nothing to do with Mr Litvinenko's murder. In an interview with the Russian news agency Interfax, he said he had given "exhaustive answers" to Scotland Yard detectives when they visited Moscow last December. "I have not received any official statements. However, if it happens I am ready to protect my reputation in any court," he added.

There were signs yesterday that the affair is damaging relations with Moscow. Government officials are convinced that, in return for an extradition request for Mr Lugovoi, the Kremlin is likely to demand extradition of Boris Berezovsky, the Russian oligarch granted asylum in the UK.

Sources in the Russian prosecutor's office denied this yesterday. But pro-Kremlin Russian politicians suggested a quid pro quo in the Litvinenko affair was reasonable, and said they were baffled by Scotland Yard's one-sided demands.

"Currently the British side seems to be considering Lugovoi as main suspect in the case," said Alexei Mitrofanov, leader of the Liberal Democrat party faction, which supports Vladimir Putin, the president.

British officials in Moscow have tried to explain the nature of the judicial system in Britain, and the fact that detectives operate independently of political pressure.

Mr Lugovoi, 41, a former bodyguard with the KGB, was one of several people interviewed by Scotland Yard detectives in Moscow last month. Mr Lugovoi met Mr Litvinenko at the Millennium Hotel in London on November 1. Mr Litvinenko fell ill shortly afterwards and died in University College hospital on November 23. In the intervening period, Mr Lugovoi appeared to leave a trail of radioactive polonium-210 at a number of offices and hotels around London, and traces of the substance were also found on board an aircraft in which he travelled. Several other people have tested positive for polonium-210 including eight members of staff and one other guest at the hotel. Dimitri Kovtun, a Russian business associate of Mr Lugovoi who was at the meeting, was also contaminated.

Meanwhile, there were unconfirmed reports last night that Scotland Yard detectives have discovered that a teapot at the Millennium Hotel in London gave an "off the chart reading" for polonium-210.

Quoting unidentified sources, ABC News in the US said that the teapot had remained in use for some time after the death of Mr Litvinenko. Another unconfirmed report suggested that Mr Litvinenko had been poisoned with a contaminated cup of tea.