GERMANY: German police find traces of radiation at flat known to have been used by Dmitry Kovtun, a contact of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko

Record ID: 718774

  • Title: GERMANY: German police find traces of radiation at flat known to have been used by Dmitry Kovtun, a contact of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko
  • Date: 11th December 2006
  • Summary: (EU) HASELAU, GERMANY (DECEMBER 10, 2006 ) (REUTERS) EXTERIORS OF DMITRY KOVTUN'S FORMER MOTHER-IN-LAW'S HOUSE (THE MOTHER OF KOVTUN'S GERMAN EX-WIFE) IN HASELAU, NORTH OF HAMBURG POLICE GUARDING PROPERTY RADIATION EXPERTS AT FRONT GATE CRIMINAL POLICE MEMBERS WEARING "BKA" (BUNDESKRIMINALAMT) JACKETS UNLOADING CAR RADIATION EXPERTS CARRYING BOX PAST GATE VARIOUS OF CRASHED CAR PARKED ON PROPERTY WHICH KOVTUN WAS IN BEFORE THE ACCIDENT, CAR BEING INVESTIGATED FOR POLONIUM TRACES (UNCLEAR WHO CRASHED CAR, BUT CRASH NOT RELATED TO POLONIUM CASE) BKA POLICEMEN WALKING PAST RADIATION EXPERT CHECKING CAR'S PASSENGER SEAT FOR RADIATION TRACES WITH SPECIAL INSTRUMENT TRASH CAN WITH LABEL READING "ATOM" FORENSIC EXPERT IN WHITE SUIT AND WEARING FACE MASK WALKING TO CAR, PUTTING ON PLASTIC SHOES RADIATION EXPERT'S JACKET READING "FEDERAL AGENCY FOR THE PROTECTION FROM RADIATION" FORENSIC EXPERT PUTTING HEADREST FROM BACK OF CAR INTO GARBAGE BAG BAG BEING SEALED WITH TAPE FORENSIC EXPERT PUTTING FLOOR MAT INTO TRANSPARENT BAG WIDE OF HOUSE ENTRANCE
  • Embargoed: 26th December 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVAZYPX581T0M38MXIPVKFDUQUB
  • Story Text: German prosecutors opened an investigation on Sunday (December 10) into a Russian associate of the murdered ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko after finding traces of the radioactive substance polonium in properties he used in Hamburg.
    Russian businessman Dmitry Kovtun, who met Litvinenko in London on the day he fell ill, is being investigated on suspicion of illegally handling radioactive material, according to Hamburg's Chief Prosecutor Martin Koehnke.
    German officials found radiation traces in a flat belonging to Kovtun's ex-wife in the northern city of Hamburg and a house in Pinneberg district in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein which belongs to Kovtun's former mother-in-law.
    "Around 11 p.m. on Friday night (Dec. 8) we discovered contamination in the apartment of Marina W., among other places on the sofa where Dmitry Kovtun allegedly slept," Thomas Menzel of Hamburg's criminal police told reporters.
    "Based on the findings by our experts and scientists we were 95 percent sure that the substance was probably polonium 210. At noon today we received the results from the Federal Agency for the Protection from Radiation and it definitely is polonium 210," Menzel said.
    No actual source of radiation was found during the searches of the Hamburg properties and police have stressed there is no risk to the population of the town.
    Former Russian spy Litvinenko died on November 23 after receiving a lethal dose of polonium-210. In a statement released after his death, he accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of killing him.
    The Kremlin has denied involvement in a case that has spawned conspiracy theories, revived memories of Cold War spying and strained relations between Russia and Britain.
    The plane on which Kovtun travelled to London the day he met Litvinenko was also checked but no radiation was found.
    Kovtun, who says that Litvinenko was the middleman in one of his business deals, is now in hospital in Moscow. There have been conflicting reports as to why he was hospitalised.
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