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Scotland Yard rejects media reports on possible Kovtun extradition demand as speculations

The Sunday Times reported that the Crown Prosecution Service wanted to charge Kovtun with murdering ex-Russian security service officer Litvinenko

LONDON, November 6 (Itar-Tass) —— Media reports claiming that British prosecutors are preparing to demand the extradition of Russian citizen Dmitry Kovtun are speculations anticipating a decision of the Crown Prosecution Service, a London police representative told Itar-Tass on Sunday.

The Sunday Times reported that the Crown Prosecution Service wanted to charge Kovtun with murdering ex-Russian security service officer Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006.

The Crown Prosecution Service intends to seek the extradition of Dmitry Kovtun, a Russian businessman and an ex-KGB agent, who was earlier a key witness in the Litvinenko poisoning case, the newspaper said.

It said that the charges might be based on new documentary evidence collected in the Litvinenko case and quoted a Crown Prosecution Service representative saying that the evidence was collected in August and provided grounds for bringing the charges so that Kovtun stood trial in the UK.

The Scotland Yard source said that the police presented evidence to the prosecutors, and the Crown Prosecution Service made the decisions. No one answered the Itar-Tass call at the Crown Prosecution Service on Sunday, and the Foreign Office recommended asking questions to the police.

The charges may be based on new documents collected in the Litvinenko case, the newspaper said.

Litvinenko died in London from poisoning with radioactive polonium 210. The UK demanded the extradition of former State Security Service bodyguard Andrei Lugovoi on the murder suspicions and Russia rejected the demand. It said the national constitution prohibited the extradition of Russian citizens to foreign countries.

Lugovoi bluntly denied his involvement in the murder of Litvinenko.

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FACTBOX: Collective Security Treaty Organization

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