Lugovoi Offers the UK a Tissue

Was the election of Andrei Lugovoi to the Duma on the LDPR ticket a spit in the face of the United Kingdom, which has been seeking his extradition for the murder the Alexander Litvinenko? In response to this question, the plucky (and newly immune to prosecution) lawmaker quipped “I would advise them to wipe it off.” The ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky must be thrilled to have such a quotable media darling on the party ticket. LDPR hasn’t had this much attention since Zhirinovsky blamed Condoleezza Rice’s policy choices on sexuality – just one crass highlight of many. I wonder when Lugovoi will join in with Zhirinovsky to denounce electoral fraud – making the two of them Russia’s most unlikely democratic advocates… In other news, the lawyer for widow Marina Litvinenko has an op/ed on the Guardian’s website which states “We owe it to her as citizens of a world in which nobody and no state should be above the law, not to let what happened become forgotten or ignored, and not to let any form of diplomatic or other expediency or calculation overcome justice.”