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Expert considers UK Litvinenko probe biased

Dr. Papandopoulos believes that the public inquiry into the Litvinenko case was biased from the very start

LONDON, January 22. /TASS/. Inquiry into the case of former Russian security service officer Alexander Litvinenko, who died supposedly of poisoning with radioactive Polonium 210 in November 2006 after living for several years in a self-imposed exile in London, was conducted in a biased manner from the very beginning, a British political scientist and editor told TASS.

The investigators’ conclusions suggest that high-rank Russian officials were ‘probably’ involved in Litvinenko’s death, Dr. Marcus Papadopoulos, the editor-in-chief of Politics First magazine told TASS when he was asked to comment on final report of the so-called public inquiry. However, there are no courts in Britain or anywhere in the world that would pass guilty verdicts based on a ‘probability’ of guilt.

Dr. Papandopoulos believes that the public inquiry into the Litvinenko case was biased from the very start.

Right after Alexander Litvinenko’s death the leading British politicians established the individuals who were responsible for this crime. Judging from the formulations the report contains the job done was an absolute waste of taxpayers’ money, Dr. Papadopoulos said.

He said he did not think publication of the report on the public inquiry findings would entail any additional sanctions against Moscow on the part of London.

The British Foreign Office has determined its stance on the problem as it knows British businesses are suffering from the anti-Russian sanctions. Also, it realizes the essentiality of Russia’s assistance in the context of relations with Syria, Iran and Afghanistan, Dr Papadopoulos said.

He said he was aware of the calls for more sanctions issued by some people on Downing Street but he did not think this was possible right now.

Specifically, some ministers like Home Secretary Theresa May condemned Russia but the real question now is how low the and already dwindling relations between the two countries could sink further.

Alexander Litvinenko, a former officer of the Russian federal security service FSB and the security advisor to the controversial Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, died in London on November 23, 2006 of what forensic experts said was poisoning with radioactive Polonium 210. However, the precise circumstances of his death remain unclear even now.

Lawyers representing Litvinenko’s widow Marina have admitted that the man had been on the payroll of MI6 and the Spanish intelligence service for several years before his death. He received a British passport shortly before passing away.