Alexander Litvinenko

ALEXANDER LITVINENKO (1962-2006) served in the Russian military for more than 20 years achieving the ranks of Lieutenant-Colonel. In 1988 he served in the counterintelligence agencies of the Soviet KGB and from 1991 in the Central Staff of the MB-FSK-FSB, specializing in counter-terrorist activities and organized crime. He worked in the most secret areas of the KGB, the Department for the Analysis of Criminal Organizations, as a senior operational officer and deputy head of the Seventh Section.

In 1988, at a Moscow press conference, he publicly criticized the leadership of the FSB and disclosed a number if illegal orders which he had received. In 1999 he was arrested on trumped-up charges and imprisoned. After winning his case, he was arrested again and charged with added crimes against the state. He escaped from Russia, and was granted political asylum in May 2001 by Great Britian where he lived until he was poisoned in November 2006.