19-11-2009
Alexander Litvinenko 1962 - 2006
My friend Alexander (Sasha) Litvinenko saw during the nineties how the
KGB and its successor the FSB descended into corruption, organized crime
and the liquidation of opponents. Sasha was a whistle blower and he sang
out. It caused him all sorts of trouble and when his life was at risk he
defected to Britain in 2000 where he got asylum and British citizenship.
>From his base in London he accused the Kremlin leadership of being a
"gangster regime" and the FSB an instrument to terrorize the Russian
people, suppress democracy and protect power for the elite by force. In
particular he accused the FSB of having been behind the bombings of the
apartment blocks in Russia in September 1999 when almost 300 innocent
Russians where killed. The purpose of these perpetrations, he asserted,
was to create chaos and fear, blame the crimes on Chechen separatists,
wage new war on Chechnya - and propel Vladimir Putin to presidential
office the following year. All of it happened. Putin had been FSB chief
until he was chosen as Yeltsin's Prime Minister in August 1999.
The FSB and Vladimir Putin profoundly hated Alexander Litvinenko for his
exposure of them and he knew the risks.
On 1st November 2006 Alexander was lured to a meeting with three ex-KGB
officers at the Millenium Hotel in Mayfair; Andrei Lugovoi, Dmitry
Kovtun and Vyacheslav Sokolenko. British police have concluded it was
during this meeting that Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned. A
radioactive substance, Polonium 210, was put in his tea.
Sasha became extremely ill and was admitted to University College
Hospital in London, where he grew steadily worse. I had the opportunity
to visit him in his intensive care unit on 21st November. He was worn
out and exhausted and marked by his terrible condition. He went in and
out of consciousness, but woke up and greeted me when I entered the
room: "Ivar, how nice to see you - how are you?" We had a short but good
conversation. At the end he said: "He got me you know - Putin."
Sasha's condition deteriorated further and he died two days later, on
23rd November. Throughout his unexplained illness his poisoning remained
a mystery to hospital experts. It was only after his death that the
conclusion came through: Radioactive Polonium 210 Poisoning. Or as his
father said afterwards: "My son was killed with a tiny nuclear bomb."
This was the first time anyone had been killed with this radioactive
substance, and had Sasha died a few hours earlier we might never have
known what killed him and how. However, he was in unique physical form
and therefore lived long enough to allow the truth to be established.
Polonium 210 does not emit gamma rays like most other radioactive
isotopes, but rather it emits alpha rays. The technical equipment did
not check for the unexpected alpha radiation until the very last day of
Alexander's life. When the identity of the substance had been
established it was very easy to establish the evidence. The Polonium had
left trail wherever it had been: in the British embassy in Moscow, on
the flight, in the hotel room, in the bar of the Millennium Hotel.
Detectives of Scotland Yard referred to it as the "Polonium trail" - and
it coincided exactly with the movements of the three ex KGB officers
Sasha met on 1st November: Andrei Lugovoi, Dmitry Kovtun and Vyacheslav
Sokolenko.
21st November was the last day that Sasha had the strength to
communicate. On that day he dictated this statement to Alex Goldfarb,
who read it out after his death two days later:
"I would like to thank many people. My doctors, nurses and hospital
staff who are doing all they can for me; the British police who are
pursuing my case with vigour and professionalism and are watching over
me and my family. I would like to thank the British Government for
taking me under their care. I am honoured to be a British citizen.
"I would like to thank the British public for their messages of support
and for the interest they have shown in my plight. I thank my wife,
Marina, who has stood by me. My love for her and our son knows no bounds.
"But as I lie here I can distinctly hear the beating of wings of the
angel of death. I may be able to give him the slip but I have to say my
legs do not run as fast as I would like. I think, therefore, that this
may be the time to say one or two things to the person responsible for
my present condition.
"You may succeed in silencing me but that silence comes at a price. You
have shown yourself to be as barbaric and ruthless as your most hostile
critics have claimed. You have shown yourself to have no respect for
life, liberty or any civilised value.
"You have shown yourself to be unworthy of your office, to be unworthy
of the trust of civilised men and women. You may succeed in silencing
one man but the howl of protest from around the world will reverberate,
Mr Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life.
"May God forgive you for what you have done, not only to me but to
beloved Russia and its people."
Alexander Litvinenko's father Valter made this announcement:
"A terrible thing happened yesterday. My son died yesterday and he was
killed by a little tiny nuclear bomb. It was so little that you could
not see it. But the people who killed him have big nuclear bombs and
missiles and those people should not be trusted."
"He was very courageous when he met his death and I am proud of my son.
He was a very honest and good man and we loved him very much. Now he is
not with us."
"This regime is a mortal danger to the world. Sasha (Alexander) fought
this regime. He understood it, and this regime got him and he is not
with us any longer... If we let this go, if we go about our business as
usual, this regime will get to all of us."
"Marina and Sasha were the most wonderful couple. They loved each other
so much. They were so happy here in London, but the long hand of Moscow
got them here on this soil. I feel extremely sorry for Marina, who has
lost a wonderful, wonderful husband, as I have lost a wonderful son."
"If this regime falls, and I think it will fall, because a regime with
no morality and conscience is doomed, then the street where Alexander
was born in the city of Voronezh will be named after him...He will
always be in our hearts and in the hearts of the Russian people."
May Alexander Litvinenko's soul rest in peace - and may his murderers be
brought to justice!
Ivar Amundsen
Director, Chechnya Peace Forum
http://chechnyapeaceforum.com/site/cpfblog_in.php?rec_id=61 
