"Russia murdered Litvinenko, says top prosecutor"

BYLINE: David Leppard
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 5
THE chief prosecutor who investigated the murder of Alexander Litvinenko by radioactive poisoning has spoken publicly for the first time of his suspicion that the killing was a "state directed execution" orchestrated by Russia.
Lord Macdonald of River Glaven, who was the director of public prosecutions (DPP) when Litvinenko was killed in November 2006, was speaking ahead of the reopening of the inquest into Litvinenko's death next week.
Macdonald said he wanted a senior judge to oversee a full inquest into the murder to ensure it is "thorough, transparent and worthy of public confidence". He unsuccessfully asked Russia to extradite Andrei Lugovoi, the prime suspect, to Britain.
Until now officials in the case have stopped short of publicly accusing Russia of involvement in the poisoning of Litvinenko with highly toxic polonium-210.
However, in an outspoken attack, Macdonald said: "This was a particularly disgusting and outrageous crime: the deliberate infliction in full world view, of a lingering radioactive death upon a man who the Russians knew was under the protection of the British state.
"When I was DPP, we took the unprecedented step of announcing our intention to seek the extradition of Andrei Lugovoi because this case and its implications were so serious.
"In particular I had the gravest suspicion that Russian state actors were involved in the planning of this murder.
He added: "It had all the hallmarks of a state directed execution, committed on the streets of London by a foreign government.
"The inquest into Litvinenko's death should take every feasible step to uncover the truth."
Macdonald said the inquest was the last chance for Marina Litvinenko, the widow of the former spy, who was granted political asylum in Britain five years before his murder, to win justice, particularly given the insistence of the Russians that Lugovoi will never be returned to Britain.
Calling for a full hearing, similar to that conducted into the death of David Kelly, the defence scientist, Macdonald said: "Because of the possibility that a foreign government may have been complicit in this murder, very serious consideration should be given to drafting in a senior judicial figure to conduct the inquest."
Andrew Reid, the coroner in the case at St Pancras, north London, indicated in preliminary hearings that the case will simply examine where, when and how Litvinenko died.
Macdonald, however, insisted this would be insufficient.
A spokesman for the coroner said the review hearing would discuss the scope of the inquest and consider submissions from the family and other agencies. Litvinenko, an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin, the former president of Russia and now prime minister, moved to Britain with Marina and their young son in 2000.
He fell ill on November 1, 2006 after meeting Lugovoi in London and died an agonising death three weeks later.
Macdonald charged Lugovoi, now an MP in his homeland, with Litvinenko's murder in 2007. His request to have Lugovoi extradited was refused by Russia. Lugovoi denies any involvement in the murder.

Так ведь полония не напасешься. А ведь он дорог, полоний-то. Его, полоний-то, не укупишь.

а разве не важно установить кто виновен в убийстве человека?
вот убил чикатило много людей и какова была бы реакция если бы сказали: зачем искать убийцу, людей не вернешь
просто убийственный аргумент

а почему все хорошие люди уезжают из России именно в Великобританию?