Russia is responsible for the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, European court rules

(CNN) – Russia was responsible for the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian Kremlin agent who died in London of polonium poisoning in 2006, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said on Tuesday.

The ruling found that “Russia was responsible for the murder of Aleksandr Litvinenko in the United Kingdom.”

“The Court determined in particular that there was a strong prima facie case that, by poisoning Mr. Litvinenko, Mr. Lugovoi and Mr. Kovtun had been acting as agents of the Russian state,” he said, referring to the names of two Russian agents accused of killing Litvinenko.

The court also ruled that the Russian authorities “had not carried out an effective internal investigation to clarify the facts and, where appropriate, identify and punish those responsible for the murder.”

News in development.