Via Reuters UK -
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's Federal Security Service opened a criminal espionage investigation on Friday into accusations that murdered ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko and a self-exiled Russian tycoon in London were both British spies.
Andrei Lugovoy, a former KGB bodyguard, told a news conference on May 31 that Litvinenko approached him with offers to spy for MI6 and collect incriminating evidence against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Photo
Lugovoy also said Litvinenko had told him his patron, the London-based Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky, who is a fierce opponent of Putin, was also working for British secret services. Berezovsky has denied such accusations
"As a result of an inquiry into the statement made by Russian businessman Andrei Lugovoy ... the FSB's Investigative Directorate opened on June 14 a criminal case relating to espionage," an FSB statement said.
The FSB declined to name the people it was investigating but in his statement Lugovoy accused both Litvinenko and Berezovsky of being British spies. A conviction for espionage can lead to a 20-year jail term for passing on state secrets, according to Russia's criminal code.
Britain's Crown Prosecution Service has accused Lugovoy of murdering Litvinenko with radioactive polonium-210 in London on November 1 last year and requested his extradition from Russia.
No comments:
Post a Comment