Today (2 June) in the 08:00 CDT hour of National Public Radio's (NPR) Weekend Edition had a piece on the state of the Litvinenko Affair. The basis of the piece was Lugovoy's dramatic assertion, on 31 May , that Litvinenko was actually a British spy agency double. The commentary was the impact of the Litvinenko Affair on Russian relationships with the West and a possible revival of the Cold War. The piece reminded me that it was time for another monthly update. There was a flurry around mid-month when Andrey Lugovoy was formally charged by the UK Crown Prosecution Service
CPS Press Release on Litvinenko Case - 22 May
This is the Press Release from the UK Crown Prosecution Service which announces that "...the evidence is sufficient to charge Andrey Lugovoy with the murder of Mr. Litvineko by deliberate poisoning."
As expected my Lugovoy denies the charge and so far Russia has refused to extradite him. The Guardian in their 24 May online edition has a "special report" that Russia could retaliate for the affair. While the ITAR-TASS on 23 May quotes Russian Vice-Premier Sergi Ivanov "I see no connection between Litvinenko case and Russian-Great Britian relations" Note: The ITAR-TASS link was broken as of 2 June 2007.
Reuters India May 26 carries a Guy Faulconbridge piece, with a Moscow dateline, that gives a point paper type review of the current status of negotiations between the UK Crown Prosecutor Service and Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika, The Russians won't extradite Lugovoy but they might try him in Russian if they are given enough evidence.
On 31 May Lugovoi made his accusation that Litvinenko was really a British Agent. Here is a link to the Scotsman on-line story. The statement at the heart of the matter is "He said Mr Litvinenko had tried to recruit him to work for MI6 and gather compromising materials about the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, but he had refused." As expected this has caused significant uptick in the Litvinenko references.
Good summary.
Somehow I've started covering the Litvinenko affair and the state of civil liberties in my blog.
It is definitely a fascinating case.
Posted by: meeg | Jun 02, 2007 at 12:40 PM