Alexander Litvinenko poisoning[edit]
Lugovoy met with Litvinenko on the day Litvinenko fell ill (1 November 2006). Litvinenko died later in November from radiation poisoning caused by polonium-210, and, on 22 May 2007, British officials charged Lugovoy with Litvinenko's murder, announcing they would seek his extradition from Russia. Russia declined to extradite Lugovoy, citing that extradition of citizens is not allowed under the Russian constitution. Russia said that they could take on the case themselves if Britain provided evidence against Lugovoy but that Britain has not handed over any evidence. The head of the investigating committee at the General Prosecutor's Office said Russia has not yet received any evidence from Britain on Lugovoy. "We have not received any evidence from London of Lugovoy's guilt, and those documents we have are full of blank spaces and contradictions."[5]
Lugovoy had visited London at least three times in the month before Litvinenko's death and met with him four times. Lugovoy met with Litvinenko on the day he fell ill (November 1). Traces of polonium-210 have been discovered in all three hotels where Lugovoy stayed after flying to London on 16 October, in the Pescatori restaurant, Dover Street, Mayfair, where Lugovoy is understood to have dined before 1 November and aboard two aircraft on which he had traveled.[6] He was treated at a Moscow hospital for suspected radiation poisoning but declined to say whether he had been contaminated with polonium-210, the substance that led to Litvinenko's death on 23 November 2006.[7]
Timeline of Lugovoy involvement in Litvinenko poisoning[edit]
- On 30 November 2006, Georgian tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili described Lugovoy as a "close friend" with whom he had been working for thirteen years. He said he hoped Lugovoy was innocent, but added that there is "no such thing as a former KGB agent."
- On 4 December 2006, Lugovoy visited a hospital in Moscow for medical tests.
- On 9 December 2006, Lugovoy was released from the hospital and declared to be in "satisfactory condition."[7]
- On 26 January 2007, The Guardian reported that the British government was preparing an extradition request asking that Lugovoy be returned to the United Kingdom to stand trial for Litvinenko's murder.[8]
- On 5 February 2007, Boris Berezovsky told the BBC that on his deathbed, Litvinenko said that Lugovoy was responsible for his poisoning.[9]
- On 22 May 2007, Britain's Director of Public Prosecutions announced that Britain would seek extradition of Lugovoy and attempt to charge him with murdering Litvinenko. Russia has previously stated that it has no right to allow the extradition of any Russian citizen for trial in Britain.[10]
- On 28 May 2007, the British Foreign Office formally submitted a request for Lugovoy's extradition to the Russian Government.[11] This was confirmed by both the British embassy in Moscowand the Russian prosecution office.
- Lugovoy is quoted as saying he is a "victim not a perpetrator of a radiation attack", and he has called the charges "politically motivated".
- The Constitution of Russia, like that of France, Germany, Austria, China, and Japan, forbids extradition of its citizens to foreign countries (Art. 61), so the request cannot be fulfilled.[12]Russian citizens can be convicted of crimes committed abroad by Russian courts if foreign law agencies provide necessary evidence.
- On 31 May 2007, Lugovoy held a news conference at which he accused MI6 of attempting to recruit him and blamed either MI6, the Russian mafia, or fugitive Kremlin opponent Boris Berezovsky for the killing.[13]
- On 4 July 2007, Russia formally declined a UK request to extradite Lugovoy.[14]
