The Litvinenko Inquiry

Part 4 | Chapters 1 to 6 | Why would anyone wish to kill Alexander Litvinenko?
Mitrokhin Commission – is of a much narrower compass. Both men gave evidence
to the Inquiry voluntarily – since they both live out of the jurisdiction, I could not have
compelled them to give evidence. I accept that what they have said about the core
issues to which I have referred was reliable. It is unnecessary for me to make any
findings regarding their evidence as to wider matters.
4.82 There is also in evidence an Affidavit sworn by Mr Litvinenko in 2006 that provides an
outline account of his dealings with the Mitrokhin Commission. 71
Factual context
4.83 The evidence that I have heard enables me to make some outline findings regarding
the Mitrokhin Commission and Mr Litvinenko’s involvement with it. I will set out those
findings below:
a. The Mitrokhin Commission was established by the Italian Parliament in 2002 72
b. The Commission had 40 members – 20 from the lower house of the Italian
Parliament and 20 from the Senate. Mr Guzzanti, a senator, was elected as
Chairman of the Commission 73
c. The Commission was initially tasked with investigating how the Italian secret
service had dealt with papers and information from the Mitrokhin Archive after it
had received them from the authorities in the UK. The Commission’s report on
that matter was completed in April 2004. However, the Commission then decided
to widen the scope of its enquiries to cover all possible KGB activities in Italy – it
continued investigating these broader issues until it was wound up in 2006 74
d. Mr Scaramella was not a member of the Commission. He was hired by the
Commission in 2003 as a consultant to conduct investigations on its behalf. The
scope of the investigations that Mr Scaramella conducted in this capacity appears
to have been very broad; Mr Guzzanti told me that they covered matters such as
the illegal financing of the Communist Party of Italy by the Soviet Union, the links
between Russian secret services and organised crime and terrorism in Italy, and
the KGB’s power to manipulate Western media 75
e. Mr Scaramella was introduced to Mr Litvinenko in late 2003 by a mutual
acquaintance, Victor Rezun, also known as Victor Suvorov. Mr Scaramella asked
for Mr Litvinenko’s help in the enquiries that he was conducting for the Mitrokhin
Commission, and Mr Litvinenko agreed 76
f. Mr Litvinenko assisted Mr Scaramella by providing him with information. Their
first meeting took place in Naples in January 2004 and lasted about five days. 77
Mr Scaramella told me that they had a number of subsequent meetings at
which Mr Litvinenko provided him with information. He thought that they met on
three or four occasions in Italy and also on three or four occasions in London. 78
71
INQ015669
72
Guzzanti 29/10
73
Guzzanti 29/10; 29/14
74
Guzzanti 29/9-18; Scaramella 27/30-32
75
Guzzanti 29/18-20
76
Scaramella 15/93-94
77
INQ015669
78
Scaramella 27/57-58
69