Russian oligarch wins libel case over Litvinenko murder

Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky Wednesday won libel damages of 150,000 pounds (223,000 dollars) after a court in London which rejected a claim that he was implicated in the radioactive poisoning of ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko in 2006, DPA reported.

London-based Berezovsky, 63, a close friend of Litvinenko's, had gone to the High Court to challenge a claim allegedly made in a 2007 broadcast on a state-owned Russian TV which can be received via satellite in Britain.

The Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (RTR) had never suggested that what it broadcast was true, Judge David Eady told the court. However, Berezovsky alleged that he had been identified as the silhouette figure featuring as "Pyotr" on the programme.

"I can say unequivocally that there is no evidence before me that Mr Berezovsky had any part in the murder of Mr Litvinenko. Nor, for that matter, do I see any basis for reasonable grounds to suspect him of it," judge Eady ruled.

Berezovsky said after the ruling it had been the aim of the programme - and the Russian authorities - to "undermine" his asylum status in Britain by putting the investigations into the Litvinenko murder "on the wrong track."

The slow and very public death of Litvinenko, poisoned by a radioactive substance alleged to have been administered with a cup of tea by Russian agents at a London hotel, led to diplomatic tensions between London and Moscow at the time.

"I am pleased that the court, through its judgment, has unequivocally demolished RTR's claims. I trust the conclusions of the British investigators that the trail leads to Russia, and I hope that one day justice will prevail."

The judge observed that Berezovsky was likely to face "formidable obstacles in recovering the money" he had been awarded in the court case.

"This may indeed be a matter of only peripheral interest to Mr Berezovsky. I doubt that he brought the proceedings to make money," said the judge.