Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Ex-KGB Suspect Running for MP Seat

"I confirm LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky's announcement that I have agreed to join the party's electoral list," Lugovoi told Interfax. Lugovoi will be listed second, just under Vladimir Zhirinovsky. Earlier this year, British authorities concluded that Lugovoi was responsible for the death of Litvinenko, who was poisoned in London with a large amount of a rare, state-controlled isotope of polonium. Lugovoi is among the few people who met Litvinenko on Nov. 1 before he became extremely sick and died from poisoning. Lugovoi is also a former KGB agent. Both men have worked for Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky.
If Lugovoi wins a seat in the Duma (the Russian lower House) in early December, he will get immunity from prosecution. Under Russian electoral rules, a party must cross the 7 percent threshold to enter parliament. Zhirinovsky has told Russian media that he expects his party to win about 20 percent of the vote. Read full story

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