Key witness denies involvement in Litvinenko poisoning

A key witness in the investigation into the radiation death of former Russian intelligence agent Alexander Litvinenko denied involvement in the poisoning today, saying he is being unjustly accused in the media.

Andrei Lugovoi, a business associate of Litvinenko who met him in London on November 1, shortly before Litvinenko fell ill, refrained from revealing details of the investigation or putting forward his own theories of the poisoning, citing a pledge to investigators. But he said squarely that he was not to blame.

“I am not regarded as a suspect, I am regarded as a witness, police are not accusing me of anything,” Lugovoi said in a telephone interview. “As for all that is being said – it’s nothing but hysteria in the media.”

Lugovoi said he was undergoing tests at a Moscow clinic, but declined to specify what he was being tested for. Media reports have said Lugovoi was being checked for radiation.

Another business partner, Dmitry Kovtun, who was also present at the November 1 meeting with Litvinenko, was contaminated, according to Russian officials.

“I will respond to all my critics after the investigation is over,” Lugovoi said.

Litvinenko died on November 23 in London after being poisoned with the rare radioactive element polonium-210. In a deathbed accusation he blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin – an allegation the Kremlin strongly denied.

Also today, Russian news agencies reported that Russian and British investigators were questioning another witness in the Litvinenko case.

Vyacheslav Sokolenko, who briefly saw Litvinenko in London on the weekend of November 1, was giving testimony to Russian prosecutors in the presence of visiting Scotland Yard officers, the ITAR-Tass and Interfax news agencies reported, citing unnamed sources close to the investigation.

Interfax, citing informed sources, said prosecutors also planned to conduct further questioning of Kovtun either Monday or Tuesday.

The report said businessman Dmitry Kovtun, who met with Litvinenko several times, including on November 1 several hours before he fell ill, will be interrogated either on Monday or Tuesday.

Kovtun was himself contaminated, Russian officials have said, and German police found traces of radiation in Hamburg, where he spent several days on his way from Moscow to London in late October.