Public Prosecutor’s Office, Hamburg
7101 Js 886/06 Statement 1.
Preamble A preliminary investigation into Dmitry Kovtun, born on September 25, 1965, in Moscow
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, was initiated, on suspicion of participating in acts preparatory to causing radiation offence, as stipulated in Section 310 (subsection 1, clause 1) and Section 309 (subsection 2) of the Criminal Code with a criminal act corresponding to more than one definition, including unlawful handling of radioactive substances (Section 328, subsection 1, clause 2 of the Criminal Code). Kovtun was suspected to have planned an ionizing radiation attack, with a potential health risk, on former KGB operative Alexander Litvinenko
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and his contacts in London. In order to carry out the attack he purchased polonium-210
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and traveled from Hamburg to London on November 1, 2006, where he and some other persons met with Litvinenko. He administered polonium-210 to Litvinenko personally or with the help of an accomplice. This act caused the poisoning of Litvinenko, as well as many other people and areas in Hamburg and London. The investigation carried out in Hamburg, along with the information received from the UK and Russia, did not find sufficient evidence to prove that the suspects were guilty of committing the crime. I. Investigation Process On December 4, 2006, Der Spiegel published an article titled
Death Sentence from Moscow
, where it said __________________________________________________
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Case page 195
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According to Wikipedia, Litvinenko, who was later to become a critic of the Kremlin, was called up for military service in 1980. In 1988, he started working for the counter-intelligence service of the Soviet KGB. Litvinenko served on active military duty in many of the so-called hot spots of the former USSR and Russia. At the FSB, which replaced the KGB, he was in charge of combatting terrorism and organized crime; SB Presse, Part 6
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Polonium-210 is an alpha emitter which decays into lead, emitting 2 protons and 2
neutrons. Alfa particles’ effect is very moderate and can be neutralized
by practically any barriers, including by intact skin. Hence it is possible to operate with polonium-210 without any special protective gloves. Most likely, polonium-210 can penetrate the body if ingested (or if inhaled). It soon starts to affect the body as at short distance alfa particles turn to reside in tissues and ionize all molecules alike. First, the damage is seen in the example of those cells that divide most often
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similar to radiation sickness. That also applies to digestive tract epithelium and bone marrow. As the half-life of polonium-210 is very short, amounting only to as much as 148.4 days, the radiation is especially intense and thus it takes only a small fraction of it for the lethal dose of radiation poisoning. Case page 140
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Case page 6, 22, 28
*** IV. Proof Assessment There are no sufficient grounds to determine that Kovtun shall be suspected of the crime. He cannot be incriminated in carrying polonium-210 on himself while in Hamburg, buying it there or at least knowing that he had been exposed to it and hence posed a threat to anyone who interacted with him. As per the preliminary investigation, no credible information was found regarding the r
easons behind Litvinenko’s murder or possible identity of its killers.
*** IV. 2 There is no objective evidence that proves that Kovtun had polonium-210 with him when he was in Hamburg. The contamination levels detected at the sites the suspect visited in Hamburg are so negligibly low that they do not allow for such a definite conclusion to be drawn. More likely, it cannot be ruled out that before he went to Hamburg, he had been in close contact with an individual who, in turn, came in contact with polonium.
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Moreover, the reports in the mass media about the British investigators having discovered a
trail of polonium contamination suggests that polonium was already in London prior to Kovtun’s
arrival on Nov. 1, 2006. Traces of radioactive substances were found in the offices of the companies, Erinys and Risk-Management, that Lugovoy and Kovtun visited during their stay from Oct. 16 to Oct. 18, 2006, and the hotel they both stayed in
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. Traces of polonium were also found in the body of the Italian informant whom Litvinenko met with on Nov. 1, 2006, before meeting Lugovoy and Kovtun
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, Mario Scaramella
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. Finally, similar traces were found in Boris Berezovsky’s office
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.
*** 2. The case is closed due to reasons outlined in paragraph 1 in accordance with Section
170 (subsection 2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure
3. Correct the personal information of the suspect in MESTA. 4. MESTA 5. Has value for the state archives. 6. Section checked. 7. Execute the special order. Hamburg. Nov. 6, 2009 (signature) Redder Senior Prosecutor