Posts Tagged ‘alan cullison’
Russia Declares Litvinenko Murder Suspect a Victim
In a new twist of Cold War-style tit-for-tat accusations, Russia asserted Wednesday that Britain’s chief suspect in the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 was himself the target of a murder attempt with the same radioactive substance.
The declaration by Russia’s top investigative body, the Investigative Committee, is likely to deepen the diplomatic chill between Moscow and London, and widen the gulf between Russian and western law enforcement agencies.
Russian investigators have appeared recalcitrant in the Livtinenko case, and the government has refused to extradite the polonium suspect, Andrei Lugovoi, calling it a matter of national sovereignty.
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Senators Push to Keep 2 Russian Generals Out of U.S.
U.S. lawmakers are moving to block the planned visit to the U.S. of two Russian generals who they say helped cover up the murder of a Russian whistleblower in prison three years ago.
Their appeal in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ratchets up pressure on the Obama administration, which is defending a “reset” in relations with Moscow as a major foreign-policy accomplishment. Some in Congress have been calling for a tougher line toward Moscow.
The case of the dead whistleblower, Sergei Magnitsky, has been a source of friction in Russia-U.S. relations, and the Kremlin has bristled at a visa ban that the U.S. implemented on Russian officials linked to Mr. Magnitsky’s imprisonment and death.
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Russia Starts Probe Into Lawyer’s Death
Russian investigators on Monday launched a criminal investigation of two prison officials—one of them a doctor—in the case of the 2009 death of a hedge-fund lawyer who was jailed after alleging officers of Russia’s Interior Ministry took part in a $230 million tax fraud.
Human-rights activists hailed the probe as a possible sign of progress, noting that it was the first time government officials specifically blamed anyone since Sergei Magnitsky’s death in a Moscow jail.
More criminal cases are possible, said Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for Russia’s Investigative Committee, the government’s leading investigative organ.
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Russia Probe Cites Officials in Death
Russian investigators on Monday blamed prison personnel in the 2009 death of a jailed hedge-fund attorney—the first time the government has acknowledged any official wrongdoing in the case.
Human-rights activists welcomed the announcement, but said they feared that the government could use the prison officials as scapegoats while ignoring any higher-level complicity.
The lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, had accused Interior Ministry officials of stealing $230 million in Russian budget funds in concert with tax officials.
Mr. Magnitsky’s employer, the U.K.-based hedge fund Hermitage Capital, has alleged that instead of investigating the theft, investigators tried to force him to recant by jailing him in squalid conditions and withholding vital medical care.
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Russian Investigator Cleared in Prison Death
Russian prosecutors exonerated the lead investigator in the case of Sergei Magnitsky, a hedge-fund attorney who died in jail after what colleagues said was an attempt to expose a massive theft of government funds in 2009.
Acitivists conducting an independent probe of the case called the ruling a whitewash of the case, despite President Dmitry Medvedev’s repeated promises of a full investigation. The handling of Mr. Magnitsky’s death has emerged as a litmus test of Mr. Medvedev’s willingness to investigate corruption in the security services, whose strength and clout have crept throughout the Russian economy.
Russia’s powerful Investigative Committee issued a three-paragraph statement Monday absolving the investigator in the case, Oleg Silchenko, of any blame, saying he had “not allowed” any legal violations in the case.
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