Andrei Lugovoy will run for Parliament in Russia by Corina Ciubotaru

Last year, a scandal was all over the news, involving the death of Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian secret service member, who died in exile in London due to intoxication with radioactive polonium-210. In a letter, Litvinenko accused Russian president Vladimir Putin of being responsible for his death, but the man that is held really responsible is Andrei Lugovoy. And Mr. Lugovoy now intends to run for Parliament in December elections for the Duma, on behalf of the party led by ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky. The Duma is Russia's lower chamber of Parliament and it has 450 seats. If elected, the former intelligence officer would receive immunity against charges against him in the murder case. He has always claimed to be innocent and he blames the billionaire Boris Berezovsky for Litvinenko's death and the attempts to discredit him. Ever since Litvinenko's passed away, British authorities have been trying to get Lugovoy extradited to England, to face trial in court. The Russian constitution forbids the extradition of its citizens and so the alleged murderer is still safe in his home land, protected by one of the most ill-tempered politicians of the country. However, Russia has agreed to let Lugovoy go to trial in England, if the British provide evidence he was responsible for the murder. Vladimir Zhirinovsky is well-known for his hate of the U.K. and his violent verbal attacks against British journalists. His party, the Liberal Democratic Party or LDPR, needs at least 7 percent of votes to be in the Parliament.

related story: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20070917/tpl-uk-russia-lugovoy-43a8d4f_4.html

by Corina Ciubotaru for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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