Press TV – Russia says mulling legal action against UK over slander | SI

Press TV – Russia says mulling legal action against UK over slander

January 27

16:04 2016

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Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the country is considering legal action against the British government over the conclusion of an inquiry into the death of Alexander Litvinenko.

During his annual press conference on Monday, Lavrov stressed that the inquiry’s results, which concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin had sanctioned the assassination of Litvinenko, would “seriously complicate” ties with the UK.

Litvinenko, a former KGB agent and a critic of Putin, died of polonium poisoning in London in 2006. Last week, an inquiry led by Sir Robert Owen concluded that Litvinenko was killed by two Russian nationals during a Federal Security Service operation “probably” authorized by the Russian president. Russia has rejected the allegations as a politicized “joke”.

“Serious accusations have been laid at the door of the Russian leadership, without any evidence whatsoever being presented,” said Lavrov, adding that the presentation of secret and circumstantial evidence in closed court sessions and the use of the term “probably” in the conclusion of the inquiry are “unprecedented in jurisprudence.”

“If one hired a decent lawyer and analyzed these facts and the statements that have been made by the leadership of the British government, I think one could well find plenty of grounds for slander,” the Russian foreign minister added.