LONDON. March 12 (Interfax) - London believes that the United Kingdom is the correct place for the trial of the main suspect in the investigation into the death of ex-officer of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Alexander Litvinenko.
"The UK government remains committed to seeking justice in the Litvinenko case and we believe that the correct place for the trial of the chief suspects is the UK," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in an exclusive interview with Interfax ahead of the 2+2 meeting of British and Russian foreign and defense ministers in London on Wednesday.
"The coroner's inquest into the death of Litvinenko is an independent judicial process," he said.
"It is for the coroner to decide which representatives may take part in the process as interested parties, and more broadly how the process will be run. The government is committed to cooperating with the coroner," Hague said, when asked whether the invitation to officials of Russia's Investigative Committee to participate in the Litvinenko trial is a positive signal in the direction of bilateral cooperation on the investigation.
Member of the Russian State Duma Andrei Lugovoi, who has been accused by the UK authorities of involvement in the poisoning of Litvinenko, said earlier on Tuesday that he will not take part in the Litvinenko death trial.
"I have come to the conclusion that the UK authorities will not give me any chance to prove that I am not guilty and I will be unable to get a fair trial in the United Kingdom," Lugovoi said at a press conference at Interfax.
Former Federal Security Service officer Litvinenko, who fled to the UK in 2000, died in November 2006 soon after meeting his former colleagues Andrei Lugovoi, Dmitry Kovtun and Vyacheslav Sokolenko. Traces of the radioactive element Polonium 210 were found in Litvinenko's body. The UK authorities accused Lugovoi of involvement in the incident and demanded his extradition, which was denied by Russia.