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London not responding to Russian embassy’s inquiry on probe into Glushkov’s murder — envoy

The Russian embassy on London considers this situation as a failure of the UK’s international liabilities under the Vienna convention of consular access

LONDON, March 16. /TASS/. Official London has not yet responded to the Russian embassy’s inquiry about the investigation into the murder in London of Russian citizen Nikolai Glushkov, a businessman and associate of late tycoon Boris Berezovsky, Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom Alexander Yakovenko told Russian journalists on Friday.

"The embassy has no information about the launch of the probe into Glushkov’s murder. The British side is not responding to the embassy’s inquiry. It is unacceptable and we consider this situation as a failure of the UK’s international liabilities under the Vienna convention of consular access," he said, adding that a relevant inquiry had been sent to the British authorities immediately after the news about businessman’s death at the beginning of the week.

"We will continue to press the British side for an official answer and as soon as we have it we will announce our further steps," Yakovenko noted.

London’s police said on Friday they had launched a murder probe after the postmortem examination of Russian businessman Nikolai Glushkov, 68, indicating suffocation as the cause of death.

Russia’s Investigative Committee has launched a criminal case over Glushkov’s death of Nikolai Glushkov. "An investigation will be conducted in accordance with the Russian legislation and international law," the Committee’s Spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said, adding that the Investigative Committee planned "to engage highly qualified experts" and was ready to cooperate with British law enforcement agencies.

Glushkov was found dead in his London home on March 12. In the 1990s, he was deputy managing director at Russia’s flag carrier Aeroflot and worked for Berezovsky’s LogoVAZ car company. In 2000, he was arrested over the embezzlement of Aeroflot’s funds, and later charged with fraud and money laundering. In 2004, he was sentenced to three years and three months behind bars but was released in the courtroom having served the term in custody. In recent years, Glushkov has been living in the United Kingdom after being granted political asylum in 2010. In March 2017, Moscow’s Savelovsky District Court handed him a second eight-year sentence in absentia for the embezzlement of Aeroflot’s funds.