British prosecutors reluctant to charge Russians

This is with regard to the poisoning death of Alexander Litvinenko. Apparently the Crown Prosecution Service is afraid to upset the Kremlin.

Litvinenko fell ill in November after meeting three men — all of whom have military and security backgrounds — at a bar at the Millennium Hotel in London. All three have denied involvement in the former agent’s death.

Litvinenko, 43, who died at a London hospital on Nov. 23, was a forceful critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he blamed for his poisoning in a deathbed statement. The Russian government denies involvement.

The newspaper quoted an unnamed prosecution service official as saying that blocking arrest warrants would set a dangerous precedent and “could let the Russians feel they have a green light to carry out murders in the U.K.”

Just as in the previous post here, this is – to say the least – unsettling.