UK: No public inquiry over Litvinenko poisoning

[July 12, 2013]  LONDON (AP) -- British officials have refused to hold a public inquiry into the death of Russian intelligence officer Alexander Litvinenko, a corner said Friday, quashing what he described as the best hope of finding out what lay behind the high-profile poisoning.

Robert Owen said the government turned down his request for an inquiry, adding that it was now unclear when or even if his inquest could begin.

"The timetable is now out of my control," the coroner said.

Owen had been assigned to hold an inquest into the death of Litvinenko, a KGB agent-turned-Kremlin critic who died in London in November 2006 after ingesting the radioactive isotope polonium-210.

Coroners typically hold public inquests to determine the facts behind a violent or unexpected death, but the national security considerations surrounding Litvinenko's killing has led Britain's government to bar Owen from considering sensitive evidence -- including documents relating to Russia's alleged role in Litvinenko's death.

Owen has said the exclusion of some evidence meant he'd be unable to assess whether the Russian state was involved in Litvinenko's killing -- as his widow Marina alleges -- and whether Britain's intelligence services could have done more to prevent it.

Marina, Owen, and a group of British media companies, including the Guardian and The Financial Times, have all called for a separate inquiry, arguing that an independent investigation outside of the inquest process would have a better chance of finding out the truth about the former agent's death -- for example because an inquiry might be able to consider classified material in private.

Marina Litvinenko's lawyer, Ben Emmerson, lashed out at the British government over the decision, accusing it of showing "utter contempt" for her family and for the inquest.

"The disrespect with which Her Majesty's Government has treated this court is of course a matter of grave concern," Emmerson said.

He said the Litvinenko family had been "treated in the ultimate shabby way by this administration" and said Marina would try to challenge the government decision in court.

Speaking outside London's Royal Courts of Justice, the widow said she was very disappointed with the government's decision, accusing British officials of putting relations with Russia ahead of uncovering the truth.

"It looks like a very political decision, what happened today," she said. "I still have a very long way to get justice."

[Associated Press; By JILL LAWLESS]

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