UK announces public inquiry into poisoning death of former Russian spy

The British government announced plans Tuesday for a wide-ranging public inquiry into the 2006 poisoning death of ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, overturning a decision it made last year.

The announcement, made by Home Secretary Theresa May at a time of rising tensions with Moscow, means investigators can again look into whether the Russian state played a role in the demise of Litvinenko. The fugitive former secret service agent died after drinking tea laced with a rare radioactive isotope, polonium-210 in a plush London hotel.

"The death of Alexander Litvinenko was an appalling crime, and we want to see those responsible prosecuted through the courts," a government spokesman said.

The spokesman said the inquest would be "entirely independent" from the government and would be chaired by Sir Robert Owen, a senior judge who served as coroner at an inquest into Litvinenko’s death. 

That inquest has been prevented from considering secret evidence about the possible role of the Russian state, but the public inquiry will have more scope. Britain's High Court ruled earlier this year that the government had to reconsider its decision not to hold a public inquiry. 

The decision drew immediate praise from Marina Litvinenko, the spy's widow, who had long called for a judicial inquiry to establish the facts surrounding the death of her husband, who had become a strong critic of the Kremlin. 

She said she was "relieved and delighted" by the decision. The message, she said, was that "no matter how strong and powerful you are, truth will win out in the end."

Relations between the countries fell to a post-Cold War low following Litvinenko's death. British police and prosecutors have said there was enough evidence to charge former KGB agents Andrei Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun with murder, but Moscow refused to extradite them, and Lugovoy, who denies involvement, was later elected a lawmaker.

But until now, the British government has been reluctant to conduct a full-scale inquiry, prompting accusations it was not prepared to further rock relations with the Kremlin, which has always denied any involvement in the death.

When May rejected calls for an inquiry last year, she admitted she had taken into account the interests of Anglo-Russian relations, but said it had not been the main factor.

However, it led to accusations from Litvinenko's family that the government was covering up what their lawyers described as "state-sponsored nuclear terrorism" to protect the Kremlin. Litvinenko's widow Marina launched a legal challenge and, in February, London's High Court quashed May's decision and told her to reconsider the issue.

In his formal submission to the High Court as coroner, Owen wrote that the secret evidence did "establish a prima facie case as to the culpability of the Russian state in the death of Alexander Litvinenko".

Hearings ahead of the inquest also heard that Litvinenko had been working for Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, known as MI6, for a number of years.

Wire services