Litvinenko case: new interrogations

In course of the investigation into the murder of former Russian security officer Aleksandr Litvinenko, Scotland Yard have questioned again Mr Litvinenko’s contact Dmitry Kovtun.

As some reports suggested, it may have been caused by the recent findings of German police, who discovered traces of Polonium-210 in several locations connected to Dmitry Kovtun in Hamburg. However, Mr Kovtun claims the re-questioning has nothing to do with the new circumstances.

“Why I was questioned again? Because the first interrogation that took place on December 5 and 6 was not lengthy enough due to my poor health. Back then I didn’t have time to answer all the questions of the British investigators. It is not connected to any new circumstances of the case. Today I managed to answer all the questions by the Scotland Yard officers in full and with more details. It’s hard to judge whether or not the investigators remained satisfied with my answers, but all the questions asked were answered,” Dmitry Kovtun was quoted as saying.

Besides, another witness Yury Shvets has been interrogated by the British police. Mr Shvets, a former Russian security officer, believes Aleksandr Litvinenko was killed because of an eight-page dossier he had compiled on a powerful Kremlin figure.

Meanwhile, Russian prosecutors plan to go to London and interview two prominent Russian exiles, Boris Berezovsky and Akhmed Zakayev. However, taking into consideration the fact that both of them have political asylum in the UK, it might be difficult for Russian authorities to gain access to them.