Individual Liberty — Individual Responsibility 

Russia promises to block extradition of Litvinenko's murderer

If British investigators find out who poisoned Alexander Litvinenko, they will block extradition. From the Chicago Tribune via The Olympian:

MOSCOW - Russia will not permit extradition of any suspect sought by British investigators probing the London poisoning of a former Russian spy and will take charge of all witness interrogations while Scotland Yard detectives are in Moscow, Russia's top prosecutor said Tuesday.

...

Fueling Russia's frustration is Britain's refusal to extradite Boris Berezovsky, an exiled Russian oligarch and a staunch Kremlin critic wanted by Russia on fraud charges, and Akhmed Zakayev, a Chechen separatist sought by Russian authorities for crimes committed during the civil war in Chechnya. Litvinenko was a close associate of both men. British authorities believe the charges against both men are politically motivated, an allegation Moscow denies.

So let's see... Victor Yushchenko, a charismatic Ukrainian is poisoned with PCBs during an election campaign in 2004. Yushchenko was an opponent of Russian policies. Investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya was murdered in October, and a "senior Russian political figure" links that murder to the death of Alexander Litvinenko and the poisoning of Yego Gaidar, another pro-westerner and Kremlin critic.

Both Alexander Litvinenko and Yego Gaidar had associations with a person of interest in the case, one Andrei Lugovoy, who met with Litvinenko on the day he was poisoned, and who left traces of radiation behind at Emirates Stadium on the same day.

Planes that traveled back and forth from Moscow to London were found to have traces of radiation, presumably from polonium-210, on board. According to the Daily Mail, two Russians that met with Mr. Litvinenko traveled on those planes.

Members of British Intelligence services have said that they are convinced the Russian FSB is involved in the poisoning.

Two more people that have run afoul of the current Russian administration are identified as being a potential reason why Russia promises to block the extradition of the murderer should he be identified, and British authorities believe the charges are politically motivated.

On his deathbed Alexander Litvinenko accused Vladimir Putin of having him poisoned. Russian authorities deny it, and claim to be cooperating, yet they have thrown a big roadblock in front of the murder investigation.

Just what is going on in Russia? Attempted murder and murder to silence political dissent sounds an awful lot like a return to the "good old days" of the cold war.

Earlier posts:

• Ex-spy's death to be treated as murder
• Russian security service 'led poison plot'
• Yushchenko, Politkovskaya, Litvinenko, and Gaidar?
• Radiation found on London-Moscow route planes
• Litvinenko victim of "state-sponsored" assassination
• Did Vladimir Putin have Alexander Litvinenko silenced?

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