MOSCOW. May 24 (Interfax-AVN) - Andrei Romashov, a lawyer for Russian businessman Andrei Lugovoi, believes that charges of his client's involvement in the murder of former Russian FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko were brought in violation of the law.
"Charges in absentia can only be brought if a person evades coming to an investigator, when summoned. In this case, my client has never been summoned to either a prosecutor's office or an investigator," he told Interfax on Thursday.
The lawyer said that Lugovoi had telephoned Scotland Yard prosecutors many times in his presence and asked to meet with British prosecutors. "All appeals of my client were left without answer," he said.
"The decision to bring charges in absentia was brought about by the absence of solid evidence," he said.
"British prosecutors doubt that his guilt could be proven before a court. Such cases are frequent in Russian history, when it is easier for an investigator to bring charges in absentia, rather than to do this in the presence of a defendant and his lawyers," Romashov said.
According to unverified information, a London court issued an arrest warrant for Lugovoi on charges of murdering Litvinenko, he said.
"As yet, we have not received any documents from the British or Russian prosecutors," the lawyer said, adding: "the actions of the British authorities are pure politics, they have nothing to do with the law."