 The Foundation will campaign to secure justice for the family of Alexander Litvinenko and inform the public about developments of the Litvinenko case. There must be no impunity in relation to such a serious crime. This should not be allowed to happen on British soil without full accountability through the criminal and civil justice systems.
The Foundation will seek to lobby all the authorities; the police, Crown Prosecution Service and the British and Russian governments to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice.
Compensation
If the perpetrators are identified and brought to justice the victims of the poisoning will be able to claim compensation against them in the Civil Courts. As it stands the victims are likely to go without adequate compensation. .
The only compensation now available is under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority scheme. This will not be the same as could be obtained from a Civil Court for the following reasons:-
1) Compensation is for personal injury only and not for damage to property
2) Fixed tariffs are used to assess the compensation which is less generous than in a Civil Court
3) Compensation for psychiatric injury is much more difficult to obtain than in a Civil Court despite the obvious trauma and distress the poisoning has caused.
No charitable fund or special scheme has been set up by the British or Russian governments to assist the victims and the Foundation will lobby for this to happen.
Long Term Effects of impunity
If serious crime on the scale of this poisoning is allowed to go unpunished it brings into disrepute the whole authority of the police, the courts and the government. The British government must ensure this does not happen. The rule of law itself will be under threat if there is any suggestion that justice has been compromised because of diplomatic or foreign policy considerations.
By Louise Christian
Legal adviser to the Livinenko Justice Foundation and Marina Litvinenko's solicitor
About the Foundation
The Litvinenko Justice Foundation was founded by Alexander Litvinenko's widow, Marina, and his two friends, Boris Berezovsky and Alex Goldfarb. They were joined by a prominent human rights lawyer Louise Christian.
The Foundation was registered in London, United Kingdom on 2nd March, 2007 registration No.: 6135123. The Litvinenko Justice Foundation is active due to a 500,000 GBP donation made by one of its founders, Boris Berezovsky.
British and Russian citizen Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned in London with the radioactive isotope Polonium-210 in the autumn of 2006. He was not the only victim. Others were unlucky enough to happen to be in the vicinity of the radioactive poison.
Our main goals are:
1. To help in the disclosure and investigation of the crime, and bring to justice all of its organizers and executors.
2. To do all humanly possible to prevent similar radioactive terror attacks in the future.
3. To help victims in pursuing compensation payments and, in addition, provide assistance to the victims in their judicial actions against any state or its authorities in all courts or tribunals willing to examine their cases. However, we clearly understand, that British law is incomplete regarding such compensation and that this could be a difficult process for both direct victims and the families of victims of Polonium-210.
We emphasize that The Litvinenko Justice Foundation itself will not compensate the victims.
|
