(21 Jan 2016) A British judge on January 21st 2016 said that sensitive government documents he had seen indicate that the Russian state bore responsibility for the death of former agent Alexander Litvinenko.
Sir Robert Owen said that he is certain Litvinenko was given tea with a fatal dose of polonium-210, which is deadly if ingested even in tiny quantities, in November 2006.
"In the course of my preparation for the inquest, I was given access to sensitive, government documents, that in my judgment were relevant to the investigation that I was conducting," Owen said.
"More particularly, those documents raised a prima facie case that the Russian state bore responsibility for Mr Litvinenko's death."
There was no immediate reaction from Moscow, which has always strongly denied involvement in Litvinenko's death.
Russia refuses to extradite the two main suspects, Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun.
The British government appointed Owen to head a public inquiry into the slaying, which soured relations between London and Moscow.
He heard from dozens of witnesses during months of public hearings last year, and also saw secret British intelligence evidence.
Russian President Vladimir Putin probably approved a plan by Russia's FSB security service to kill former agent Alexander Litvinenko, who died three weeks after drinking tea laced with poison at a London hotel, a British judge said.
In a lengthy report, Judge Robert Owen said that he is certain Litvinenko was given tea with a fatal dose of polonium-210, a radioactive isotope that is deadly if ingested even in tiny quantities, in November 2006.
He said there is a "strong probability" that the FSB, successor to the Soviet spy agency the KGB, directed the killing, and the operation was "probably approved" by Putin.
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