Britain prepares inquest into the death of Russian tycoon
Source: AFP |
March 27, 2013, Wednesday
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BRITAIN will open an inquest tomorrow into the death of Russian oligarch and Kremlin critic Boris Berezovsky after a post-mortem found he had been hanged, police said.
Detectives are focusing on the 67-year-old tycoon's state of mind in the final days of his life after his body was found in his mansion on Saturday.
Friends said he had been deeply depressed in recent weeks and was left distraught by his defeat last year in a multi-million-pound court battle with Roman Abramovich, another Britain-based Russian oligarch who owns English Premier League soccer club Chelsea.
A bodyguard broke down the door and discovered Berezovsky's body on the bathroom floor of his home in Ascot, an upmarket town west of London, after becoming concerned he had not seen his boss for several hours.
"The results of the post-mortem examination, carried out by a Home Office pathologist, have found the cause of death is consistent with hanging," a police statement said on Monday.
"The pathologist has found nothing to indicate a violent struggle."
Unconfirmed reports said a scarf had been found next to the body. Toxicology tests will also be carried out, but the results will not be known for several weeks, police said.
The inquest will open in Windsor, near Ascot. In Britain, an inquest determines the cause of death without apportioning blame.
Berezovsky's friend and fellow Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko was killed by radioactive poisoning in London in 2006 and Litvinenko's widow maintains his death was ordered by Moscow.
Reports said samples from the tests carried out on Berezovsky will be sent to Britain's Atomic Weapons Establishment, which discovered the presence of the radioactive substance Polonium 210 in Litvinenko's body.
Police officers trained in detecting chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear material inspected Berezovsky's house as a precautionary measure after his body was discovered, but they gave it the all-clear.
Many of Berezovsky's friends remarked on his depressed demeanor recently. A journalist from Forbes magazine who interviewed him last week said the fallen oligarch complained that "life had lost meaning."
But Russian media - which had published comments pointing to a variety of conspiracy theories ranging from assassination to a fake death - appeared to retain a degree of skepticism towards an eventual conclusion of suicide by hanging.
State news agency RIA Novosti said the initial conclusions about the circumstances of the death had "not brought clarity but raised even more questions" and noted British police had published no information about how Berezovsky may have hanged himself.
Friends said Berezovsky was left distraught and under financial strain after losing his case against Abramovich.
Detectives are focusing on the 67-year-old tycoon's state of mind in the final days of his life after his body was found in his mansion on Saturday.
Friends said he had been deeply depressed in recent weeks and was left distraught by his defeat last year in a multi-million-pound court battle with Roman Abramovich, another Britain-based Russian oligarch who owns English Premier League soccer club Chelsea.
A bodyguard broke down the door and discovered Berezovsky's body on the bathroom floor of his home in Ascot, an upmarket town west of London, after becoming concerned he had not seen his boss for several hours.
"The results of the post-mortem examination, carried out by a Home Office pathologist, have found the cause of death is consistent with hanging," a police statement said on Monday.
"The pathologist has found nothing to indicate a violent struggle."
Unconfirmed reports said a scarf had been found next to the body. Toxicology tests will also be carried out, but the results will not be known for several weeks, police said.
The inquest will open in Windsor, near Ascot. In Britain, an inquest determines the cause of death without apportioning blame.
Berezovsky's friend and fellow Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko was killed by radioactive poisoning in London in 2006 and Litvinenko's widow maintains his death was ordered by Moscow.
Reports said samples from the tests carried out on Berezovsky will be sent to Britain's Atomic Weapons Establishment, which discovered the presence of the radioactive substance Polonium 210 in Litvinenko's body.
Police officers trained in detecting chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear material inspected Berezovsky's house as a precautionary measure after his body was discovered, but they gave it the all-clear.
Many of Berezovsky's friends remarked on his depressed demeanor recently. A journalist from Forbes magazine who interviewed him last week said the fallen oligarch complained that "life had lost meaning."
But Russian media - which had published comments pointing to a variety of conspiracy theories ranging from assassination to a fake death - appeared to retain a degree of skepticism towards an eventual conclusion of suicide by hanging.
State news agency RIA Novosti said the initial conclusions about the circumstances of the death had "not brought clarity but raised even more questions" and noted British police had published no information about how Berezovsky may have hanged himself.
Friends said Berezovsky was left distraught and under financial strain after losing his case against Abramovich.
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