| The Prosecutor General's Office questioned Moscow partner Alexander Litvinenko Investigators from the Prosecutor General's Office, as part of the investigation into the scandalous “Litvinenko case,” yesterday finally interrogated the former head of the security of Boris Berezovsky, and now Russian businessman Andrei Lugovoy. The interrogation of one of the main witnesses of this sensational epic took place in the presence of Scotland Yard detectives in a closed military hospital in Moscow, where Mr. Lugovoi is being examined. The “conversation” lasted more than three hours. However, yesterday both the Prosecutor General’s Office and the interrogated person refused to specify its details. Mr. Lugovoy only clarified that he was a witness in the case and believes that he gave “exhaustive answers” to Russian and British investigators. Meanwhile,German detectives who recently joined international investigative actions found traces of polonium-210 , which was used to poison retired FSB officer Litvinenko in London , in the car of another partner of the murdered man, Dmitry Kovtun, as well as on the clothes of his ex-wife. Yesterday, the ex-wife, her common-law husband and two children were hospitalized.
The Prosecutor General's Office began its own investigation into the poisoning in London of former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko and the attempted murder of his commercial partner Dmitry Kovtun at the end of last week. On November 23, Litvinenko died in University College London Hospital. Doctors found traces of polonium-210, a rare radioactive chemical element, in his body. Scotland Yard experts began an investigation that led them to Moscow - two of Litvinenko's business partners, Andrei Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun, were examined in the capital. On November 1, according to British detectives, Litvinenko met with them in London at the Millennium Hotel. Detectives said that it was most likely that Litvinenko was planted with polonium-210 there, and information appeared that even a cup from which he drank poisoned tea was found in the hotel. (Traces of the substance were also found in Sheraton Park Lane, at the stadium of the Arsenal football club in London, in two British Airways airliners, in the British embassy in Moscow, but not in such quantities.)
British detectives expressed their intention to communicate with important witnesses and arrived in the capital on December 4 . However, the Prosecutor General’s Office considered that the British did not have the right to interrogate Russian citizens, and opened “their own” criminal case. As part of this, Dmitry Kovtun was the first to be interrogated. Like Andrei Lugovoi, he is undergoing examination in a military hospital. Several times information appeared that his condition worsened, he fell into a coma and was generally dying. But these rumors were officially denied by Mr. Lugovoi yesterday.
Investigators were unable to meet with him last week, although they had planned to. According to the businessman’s lawyer Andrei Romashov, the interrogation was hampered by various “technical reasons on the part of law enforcement agencies.”
Mr. Lugovoi stated that he was ready to answer questions from investigators at any time, since “all this fuss” was negatively affecting his business. And yesterday the communication finally took place.
What exactly the Prosecutor General's Office was interested in when interrogating Mr. Lugovoi remains unclear. The department refused to report this. The businessman himself also did not disclose what he discussed with the investigators. “This is a secret of the investigation, I cannot disclose such information,” he said, noting that he “gave comprehensive answers to the questions posed.”
Meanwhile, the case of the murder of Alexander Litvinenko is acquiring more and more new details. Yesterday information appeared that German detectives found traces of polonium-210 in the apartment of Dmitry Kovtun’s ex-wife. On October 28, he flew to Hamburg from Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport. Radioactive background was also found in the car in which he drove around the city. Earlier, German prosecutors opened a criminal case against Kovtun, saying that they believed that it was he who brought the radioactive substance polonium-210 from Russia. Yesterday, Mr. Kovtun's ex-wife, her two children and her common-law husband were hospitalized due to suspicions of possible exposure.
Meanwhile, Russian investigators are also preparing to travel. The Prosecutor General's Office found reasons for an official meeting with the disgraced oligarch Boris Berezovsky and the emissary of the Chechen separatists Akhmed Zakayev, whose extradition the Russian authorities have been unsuccessfully seeking for several years. They still live in London, were good friends of Litvinenko and are acquainted with businessman Lugovoi. Russian investigators have expressed a desire to interrogate them as part of the investigation into the “Litvinenko case,” apparently counting on the reciprocal courtesy of Scotland Yard investigators. Akhmed Zakaev has already stated that he is ready to answer questions from Russian investigators. Tatiana GRITSENKO |
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