Posted on 12/27/2006 12:26:05 PM PST by A. Pole
MOSCOW, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Russian prosecutors said on Wednesday that Leonid Nevzlin, a former top manager of the YUKOS business empire, could have ordered the poisoning of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko.
"A version is being looked at that those who ordered these crimes could be the same people who are on an international wanted list for serious and very serious crimes, one of whom is ... Leonid Nevzlin," Russia's prosecutor-general's office said in a statement posted on its Web site www.genproc.gov.ru.
[...]
A trusted business partner of jailed Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Nevzlin has provoked the Kremlin's ire by slamming Putin for the destruction of YUKOS, which he says was political motivated.
After Khodorkovsky's arrest in Oct. 2003, Nevzlin fled to Israel and later received Israeli citizenship.
[...]
Litvinenko, who died in London on Nov. 23, made a deathbed statement accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of his murder. The Kremlin called Litvinenko's allegations "nonsense".
His slow, agonising death in a London hospital from poisoning by radioactive polonium 210 has prompted a five-nation police investigation and scorched the Kremlin's reputation, despite its repeated denials of any involvement in the murder.
[...]
A single team has been created to investigate the Litvinenko and YUKOS cases, the prosecutor-general said.
[...]
Litvinenko's friend Alexander Goldfarb called the prosecutor-general's statement "sheer nonsense".
"This statement is a very clumsy effort to shift the blame for this murder and it only adds to the suspicion that the Russian government is standing behind this murder," he said.
Russia wants to try Nevzlin for a series of killings which a Russian court has said were carried out by the former head of security at YUKOS.
[...]
(Excerpt) Read more at today.reuters.com ...
Reuters covering for Putin.
Litvinenko case update
You have got to be kidding me. Communist thugs.
Protest too much...
But I really wonder why Putin's people propound these theories. What is he trying to gain? Why doesn't he just say, "OK, so I offed him. What are you gonna do about it?"
You've got to know, this just sounds silly on the face of it.
No further proofs are needed. The kegebuns exist and operate under presumption of guilt.
There is NO WAY Putin could have ordered such stupid and harmful act. As Machiavelli said: the skillful politician do not make OBVIOUS mistakes. (Non-obvious mistakes everybody can make).
It is quite likely that the Litvinenko death was an accident taking place among deranged people playing with dangerous toys. But if there was a real conspiracy, the most likely it was done in order to damage Russian government. The key could be the failed assassination of former prime minister Gaidar. Gaidar was the main proponent of 1990s free market reforms and his death could be used against Putin in a much more powerful way..
When Gaidar managed to survived, he did not want Western doctors to help him. He fled immediately to the Russian embassy and then flew to Russia. This strange event must have made him rethink his allegiances.
You need a tagline. You can have mine :)
Since my days in the thucking USSR I always "loved" those who know what I need better than I myself know it.
Would this YUKOS guy be able to shut down the russian BBC radio station during those first critical days when the rest of the world was learning of the poisoning incident? Obviously this was done on the direct orders of putin. A british warrant should be issued for his arrest.
Shutting down BBC for a couple of days? Maybe. It would help to limit the damage. But killing Litvinenko? No, it was too damaging.
I think it was for 4 or 5 days, but proof positive that it was putin whodunit.
Kremlin claims ex-Yukos chief ordered murder of Litvinenko
http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,1979241,00.html
In a statement released yesterday, the prosecutor general's office said: "A version is being looked at that those who ordered these crimes could be the same people who are on an international wanted list for serious and very serious crimes, one of whom is ... Leonid Nevzlin."
Mr Nevzlin, who lives in Israel, said the charges levelled at him by the Russian authorities were fabricated. His spokesman, Amir Dan, said yesterday: "Everyone knows the KGB's methods. These statements are ridiculous and do not warrant a response."
The statement from the prosecutor general's office did not give any details of the allegations against Mr Nevzlin, but it did reveal that prosecutors had formed a special investigative unit and were preparing to file international requests for assistance in the case and possible extradition demands.
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