The Litvinenko Inquiry

The Litvinenko Inquiry
3.90 Mr Goldfarb described how, after his arrival in Turkey, he had travelled with the
Litvinenko family to Ankara. He had arranged an approach to the US embassy there,
and Mr and Mrs Litvinenko were interviewed separately by US officials. 76
3.91 The American officials responded on the following day saying that they could not
assist. By this time, the Litvinenko family and Mr Goldfarb were in Istanbul, having
driven there overnight, again because they were concerned that they might be in
danger from the FSB.
3.92 The group were now desperate to reach a place of safety. Mr Goldfarb’s evidence was
that Badri Patarkatsishvili, Mr Berezovsky’s friend and business partner, suggested
sending a boat to pick them up in Istanbul, but that was considered too dangerous.
Mr Goldfarb researched which destinations could be reached by air without the
need for a visa. The solution that they eventually hit upon was to fly to the UK by
purchasing tickets from Istanbul to Tbilisi via London, a trip that did not require any
transit visas. As had been the case throughout this period, Mr Berezovsky met the
costs – Mr Goldfarb’s evidence was that the costs that he had incurred amounted to
US$130,000. 77
3.93 On 1 November 2000, Alexander, Marina and Anatoly Litvinenko flew to London with
Mr Goldfarb on the first leg of their supposed journey to Tbilisi. Marina Litvinenko
described in her evidence how, having landed at Heathrow Airport, Mr Litvinenko
approached the first police officer that he saw in the transit area and said, “I am KGB
officer and I’m asking for political asylum”. 78
76
Goldfarb 5/92-95; Marina Litvinenko 3/105-106
77
Goldfarb 5/97-98
78
Marina Litvinenko 3/108
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