The Litvinenko Inquiry

Part 3 | Chapters 1 to 5 | Alexander Litvinenko
You have shown yourself to be unworthy of your office, to be unworthy of the trust
of civilised men and women.
You may succeed in silencing one man but the howl of protest from around the
world will reverberate, Mr Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life. May God
forgive you for what you have done, not only to me but to beloved Russia and its
people.”
The statement was signed in manuscript by Mr Litvinenko, and dated
21 November 2006.
3.144 Doubts have been expressed as to the authenticity of this statement, or at least as
to the extent to which it represented Mr Litvinenko’s views. I therefore took detailed
evidence on this subject. The key witnesses, who all gave oral evidence, were George
Menzies, who was Mr Litvinenko’s solicitor, 180 Mr Goldfarb, 181 Marina Litvinenko 182 and
Lord Bell. 183
3.145 My conclusions regarding the so called deathbed statement are as follows:
a. The witnesses were agreed that the idea of the statement did not originate from
Mr Litvinenko. Mr Menzies recalled the idea being suggested to him by a press
consultant (not Lord Bell); Mr Goldfarb thought that the idea had emerged,
“between me and George Menzies and Sasha”
b. Mr Goldfarb emphasised that the idea had emerged “naturally” because
Mr Litvinenko “was so adamant in trying to get across the message that the
Kremlin and Putin poisoned him”. This is certainly consistent with other evidence
that I have heard about Mr Litvinenko’s thinking at this time
c. Marina Litvinenko was opposed to the idea of the statement because, as with the
photograph, she still believed that Mr Litvinenko would survive – she said that
preparing the statement was like giving up
d. Mr Menzies drafted the statement. The draft was prepared in English; there was
never a Russian version. Mr Menzies dictated the statement and had it typed by
his secretary. He had not discussed the statement in terms with Mr Litvinenko
at that point, but he had visited him in hospital and discussed the possible
causes of his illness, and the content of the draft statement reflected Mr Menzies’
understanding of Mr Litvinenko’s state of mind
e. Mr Menzies and Mr Goldfarb initially took the statement to Lord Bell. He was
against the idea of the statement because he felt it read like a deathbed statement,
and he still hoped that Mr Litvinenko would recover
f. Mr Goldfarb and Mr Menzies took the statement to UCH on 21 November. They
showed it to Marina Litvinenko, who approved it and agreed that it should be
shown to Mr Litvinenko
g. All three then went into Mr Litvinenko’s room. Mr Goldfarb read the statement
to him in Russian. Mr Litvinenko then asked for a pen and signed the statement
180
Menzies 6/6-17
181
Goldfarb 5/148-155
182
Marina Litvinenko 4/67-69
183
Bell 6/23-25
43