Original subtitles

[no audio]

[copier beeps]

[copier whirring]

[keyboard clacking]

[printer whirring]

[people chattering]

[tape tearing]

- Right.

Time to hand in your own work.

[bright music]

If you're wondering why we're not emailing this

or pressing a button to make

some sort of computer submission,

it's because I want this physically handed in.

200 people on this job. 40,000 man hours.

Two strong suspects.

There's a weight of evidence here,

and I want 'em to feel that weight.

I want 'em to hold all your hard work in their hands

before they make their decision.

It's the biggest job of my career, this,

and I know it's the same for many of you, so well done.

Now, we just need a volunteer

to take it round to CPS, please.

[bright music continues]

- Marina?

It's in.

Now all we can do is wait.

[dosimeter clicking]

[car rumbling]

[brakes squeaking]

[birds twittering]

[door slams]

[birds twittering]

[vacuum cleaner whining]

[intercom ringing]

[Anatoly speaking in Russian]

[Marina speaking in Russian]

[console beeps] [gate buzzes]

[Marina speaking in Russian]

[footsteps approaching]

[Marina speaking in Russian] [Boris speaking in Russian]

[Anatoly speaking in Russian] [Boris speaking in Russian]

[Boris speaking in Russian]

[Boris speaking in Russian]

[Boris speaking in Russian]

[Marina speaking in Russian]

[Boris speaking in Russian]

[Marina speaking in Russian]

[Boris speaking in Russian]

[Marina speaking in Russian]

[Boris speaking in Russian]

[Boris speaking in Russian]

[Boris speaking in Russian]

[brooding music]

- Well, somebody can't stay away. Look.

[telephone ringing]

- What?

- CPS have agreed to press charges, and request extradition.

- But you knew that already.

- No.

- Then, then why are you here?

- Because Marina wants a meeting,

and she wants it at her lawyer's place.

- Why would Marina need a lawyer?

- What my client would like

while the CPS considers its options

is a public inquest into her husband's death.

She believes that an inquest will maintain public awareness.

She believes it will expedite matters.

She believes that it will give us all,

and we include you in this,

a far better chance of establishing Russian culpability.

- Sorry.

She believes this or you do?

- Louise Christian is a human rights lawyer.

Very experienced.

She explained what we- - To be clear,

my client does not need your permission for any of this.

She's just making you aware.

- Marina, we were going to call you about this,

but given you wanted a meeting,

we agreed that it will be better coming in person.

The CPS has decided to press murder charges,

and to request extradition.

It's fantastic notes.

- Yes, but it won't change anything.

Extradition won't follow.

- Extradition will be requested

by the British Embassy directly.

- Fine, but they're not gonna get anywhere.

- [scoffs] We don't know that.

- [Peter] No.

- How did your detectives get on when they were in Moscow?

- I'm in the process of finding a barrister

to represent my client.

- [Clive] You don't need to do that.

- If by a miracle-

- It confuses things. - extradition is granted-

- It gets in the way. - then we can all reconvene.

- [Louise] That way we will waste no more time.

- What do you mean, more time?

- Is that fair?

I address that to you, you being the most senior, yes?

- Look, you either trust in the British justice system,

or you don't.

- Honestly, I could trust in it more.

- I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about your client,

or Marina, as we tend to call her.

She asked us to do a job. We did it.

We put colleagues' lives in danger,

and now we need to let it play out.

- Stop!

It's like cats and dogs.

- Here's an idea.

Whatever the decision over extradition,

it shouldn't take more than a few days to arrive.

The second it does, we let Marina know.

From that moment on,

everyone around this table agrees to support Marina

with an inquest or whatever you choose to do next.

How does that sound

- Thank you.

- [Clive] Peter?

- [Peter] You near a television?

- Um...

Yes.

- [Peter] It's called Russia TV.

- Russia TV?

- Right the way up.

If you get to the dirty ones, you've gone too far.

- Yeah. [ominous music]

- "Putin on Litvinenko:

'An insignificant target who the FSB

would not have bothered murdering.'"

- When are the embassy asking for extradition?

- [Peter] This afternoon.

- Pff. Talk about bad timing.

- No, this, this isn't timing, Clive.

This is him giving his answer in advance.

All you're watching is televised fuck you.

[ominous music continues]

- The Russians are not going to allow extradition.

We heard about an hour ago.

I wanted to be the one to tell you, face to face.

- This is why we ask for a meeting.

We knew this would happen.

And

police work is finished.

- A murder case is never closed.

- You're working on this now?

- Personally?

- Clive working on this now?

Brent,

I

trust you

very much.

From beginning, all of you, you try to catch this man,

but now it is

done.

If want to continue fighting-

- Marina, I'm always here if you need someone-

- If? - to talk to.

- If I want to continue fighting,

I fight on my own, yes?

[Brent exhales]

[Marina sobbing]

[door closes]

[streetlamps buzzing]

[ominous music]

[engine revving]

[dog barks]

[people yelling]

[ominous music continues]

- Uh, Louise, I don't understand.

You are my lawyer.

- I'm your solicitor.

But if there's an inquest, we'll need a barrister, too.

There are a lot of good ones in London.

He is one of the very best.

[intercom ringing]

- [Receptionist] Matrix.

- [Louise] Hello. Here to see Ben Emmerson.

- [Receptionist] One moment, please.

- So, the question for you is never gonna be,

is he good enough, but, do I trust him,

and does this feel right?

[door lock buzzes]

[siren wailing]

- Well, they'd have been placed with the teapot.

That's excellent, but here's the one that seals it for me,

the U-bend from Lugovoy's sink, because I'm sorry,

polonium might do many things,

but it doesn't cross-contaminate its way

into the U-bend of your sink.

You have to pour it there.

Now, this shows that these are the men responsible.

- Yes?

- Well, when you factor in all the rest of it,

unquestionably.

But, you know, it is very important to say, Mrs. Litvinenko,

that if you and I are to work together on this,

now, push for this inquest,

then our objective cannot be to show

these are the men that killed your husband.

- But I need to show this.

- That's not our brief.

- It is brief.

- It's not the one I've been given.

May I show you?

Not that you won't have seen it already.

- This may be the time to say one or two things

to the person responsible.

You may succeed in silencing me,

but the howl of protest from around the world

will reverberate, Mr. Putin,

in your ears for the rest of your life.

- It's not what your husband's asking us.

He wants us to lay this at the door of Vladimir Putin.

That is the brief.

[bright music]

So if we do this,

and even though it might take a considerable amount of time,

then that is what I suggest we try and do.

[door shuts]

[bright music continues]

Before any inquest can begin,

the rules of the game need to be established,

what is or or is not admissible, and so on,

but none of what happens here is gonna be a trial.

It's not us versus them.

It's a lot of stuffy old lawyers like me

putting a lot of things before a judge,

and it's for the judge alone to decide.

- To judge the judge.

- Precisely. But first we need to jump through some hoops.

- Our preliminary assessment

does establish a prima facie case

as to the culpability of the Russian state

in the death of Alexander Litvinenko.

- Mr. Emmerson.

- Sir, may I thank the inquest team

for their preliminary report.

That there is a case for Russian state responsibility

in the death of Mr. Litvinenko is of course something

that my client has been hoping to explore

since her husband made clear to her whilst dying

that that was his own belief.

- In which case, I will look to confirm the date

on which we can begin the substantive hearings.

[cheerful Christmas music]

- Ben is very happy, very positive.

Everything take time, of course,

but Ben says there is good chance

to prove Russian responsibility at highest level.

He keeps fighting. You keep fighting.

Ben and I, well, we keep fighting.

What?

- Oh,

nothing.

You said the name Ben three times in the last minute.

- [chuckles] What is wrong with that?

- [Alex] Nothing, nothing.

- Stop.

This is very dangerous situation for me.

Do you not see?

- Yes.

- I put all my hope

in this one man, in this one place.

[bright music]

[Alex speaking in Russian]

[bright music continues]

- Right.

Sorry.

Ready?

[door clacks]

[Oscar speaking in Russian]

[keys clattering]

Boss?

[ominous music]

Boss?

[ominous music continues]

Boss?

Boris!

Boss?

Boss?

[ominous music continues]

[Oscar grunts] [door shatters]

[Oscar gasping]

[people chattering]

- The, uh, the judge is going to invite the government

to hold a public inquiry.

Now, that would mean that the materials

they wanted hidden will remain hidden,

but that he, crucial, will get to see them,

and not just see them, take them into consideration.

- This is good?

- Oh, it's a hell of a lot better than it was at lunchtime.

Put it that way. All right.

You're Temple, I'm Chancery Lane, so.

- How long will this take?

- Too long, probably, but then,

yeah, we knew that it would, didn't we?

My knowing's half the battle.

[carillon tolling]

[rain pouring]

- "Evening Standard."

[ominous music] "Standard."

[ominous music continues]

[ominous music continues]

- Taxi!

[ominous music continues]

- He makes a series of anti-Putin remarks, like Sasha,

and the next thing you know, like Sasha,

he's found dead in unexplained circumstances.

- But not like Sasha in that he had a scarf around his neck.

Bruising all on there.

- Yeah, I'm not saying that it's not suicide.

- And the door was locked from the inside.

- I'm saying it's worth investigating.

- You know what, Brent? It's a simple job.

You get a brief, you get to work,

you make your submission at CPS, or not, depending,

and you move on to the next one.

Staying emotionally attached-

- Oh, you mean caring?

- is not a strength.

Not in a way you think it is.

[cellphone ringing] - Sorry.

Oh, I, I've...

I'm sorry. [cellphone ringing continues]

[door opens]

Hi.

Okay.

Tell me.

[somber music]

I'm coming right now.

[somber music continues]

- Just I [sighs]

feel like we keep running into the same brick wall.

- Yeah, but at least we get to run into it together.

[somber music continues]

- Thank you.

- The UK has refused a request to set up a public inquiry

to replace the inquest into the death

of the former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko.

Mr. Litvinenko was poisoned

with radioactive polonium in London in 2006.

A disappointing decision then for the family today.

- Six reasons from the home secretary

for why a public inquiry is being refused,

including, risibly,

the admission that international relations are a factor,

which, to translate into English from the original bullshit,

means that trade opportunities

are more important to this country than the life of,

of, of one of its citizens.

- Maybe government knows it was not actually Putin.

- But it was actually Putin.

[Marina sobbing]

What Russian citizen would dare do something like this

without his blessing?

But you know, Putin's not the problem.

Well, he's not the only problem.

What today proves more than anything

is that we are taking on an entire regime here,

one that is immoral, cowardly,

one that, yeah, it answers to Putin's drum,

one that deludes itself into believing

that it has an international relevance

that it lost long ago.

But as of today, the regime we are up against

isn't the Russian regime.

[ominous music]

- It's the United Kingdom.

[garbage truck beeping]

[wind howling] [leaves rustling]

[Marina humming]

[birds twittering]

- He would. He definitely would, if you can see it.

It's real, to be honest.

Oh, mate, your mum's here.

- See ya, mate.

- You smoke?

- What?

- Do not smoke, Anatoly.

Your sports like your father.

- Well, sport's not exactly my thing.

- How about helping your mother with shopping?

Is this your thing?

Alex is coming later.

I was gonna take this to the cemetery, but maybe tomorrow.

- I can do it now.

- Hmm. Okay. [bright music]

[bright music continues]

[bright music continues]

- Anatoly's school fees are settled.

The apartment is secured,

but there can be no more money taken from the estate.

We certainly cannot afford barristers like Ben Emmerson.

- So,

that's it?

I just tell him it's over, everything stop?

- Sorry.

- Okay, so, uh,

no more money.

We think of new way.

[clock ticking]

- Marina,

it's been seven years.

Seven years. [door shuts]

I think it's time for you to ask yourself the question,

"What more can I do?"

[somber music]

- The grave was covered in moss and leaves and stuff,

but I took care of it.

You should never let it get like that.

- Thank you.

[somber music continues]

[somber music continues]

- There are three things we could be doing.

One, keep this in the public eye,

two, keep the police on side,

and three, wait.

Crucial.

Every time Putin does something, influences an election,

annexes Georgia, the pressure mounts,

and there'll come a point when even the British government

can't be seen to look the other way.

And when that day comes, that's when we strike.

You haven't touched your sandwich.

- This morning, I, um,

visit Louise Christian.

I explain her,

I'm very scared.

From now on,

no more money.

Expensive barrister,

not possible.

- So now you've come to see me?

You bought a sandwich you don't even want,

and you wanna know what I think?

I think,

I think we're just gonna have to carry on anyway,

is what I think.

You and I, we've started something, and,

well, I'm afraid that I'm just gonna have to insist

we see it right towards the end.

I also think you need to put that sandwich back in your bag.

Take it home for Anatoly.

- Yes. - Before I eat it for him.

- Thank you, Ben.

[printer whirring]

[bright music]

[keyboard clacking]

[printer whirring]

[bright music continues]

[printer whirring]

[bright music continues]

[Marina sighs]

[bright music continues]

[keyboard clacking]

Dear Mr. Putin,

my name is Marina Litvinenko.

I believe you to be responsible

for the murder of my husband.

I have shared this belief with the British media,

and I have asked my prime minister

to authorize a public inquiry

so that you may be held to account.

In the words of my husband, may God forgive you.

[dog barks]

[car approaches]

[cat growls]

[cat growls]

[footsteps tapping]

[somber music]

[somber music continues]

[people chattering]

- [clears throat] Sorry, everybody.

[somber music continues]

Forgive me.

Thanks.

What are we doing this afternoon?

No, don't, don't answer that.

I'll tell you exactly what we're doing.

- I cannot understand why the British government

needs to cover for the people in Kremlin

responsible for the murder of my husband.

After all, the government is supposed to be interested

in finding out who is responsible for the murder

of a British citizen in the streets of London.

Now the decision is up to Theresa May.

- [Jenny] Brent.

- I call on her to begin an investigation.

I want to ask her as one woman to another,

how would she feel in my place

if her husband were murdered in such a way?

Would she not want to know the truth?

- [Newsreader] Our correspondent, Julia Kremer,

is in Westminster.

[birds twittering]

[somber music continues]

[footsteps approaching] [floorboards creaking]

- Mum.

Mum!

[Marina speaking in Russian]

[Anatoly sighs]

- It's in the Ukraine.

They think it was shot down by Russia.

Isn't that the kind of thing we've been waiting for?

The thing they can't ignore?

[telephone ringing]

Hello?

[bright music]

- So what, she's just coming over?

It's that like a, like a Russian thing,

like with Australians?

You know, just invite yourself round?

- You don't need to tidy up.

She's not that sort of person. She's nice.

[taxi rumbling]

[engine revving]

- This morning,

Theresa May,

she decided.

yes,

we have inquiry.

I wanted to tell you, Brent,

before anyone else.

Straight away, I know Brent needs to know this,

because Brent was the first person at the hospital.

- Yes.

- Late at night.

- Yes.

- How many years ago now?

- Eight years this year.

- The first person to believe my husband, to listen to us.

This is very big moment.

- And you'll need everyone on the police side

to take part in the inquiry, I'm presuming?

Then that's what we'll do.

- We're about to have some food, Marina. Will you stay?

[water running]

[plates clanking]

- Everything okay?

- Brent,

for me and Anatoly, this inquiry is easy.

We stand in public and we say Vladimir Putin is murderer.

Because it is family.

For other people, this is

big risk.

You must think about the things closest to you.

- Marina

- The people you love.

- We're giving evidence, we're giving it everything,

and we're doing it for you.

End of.

- You will?

- You just try and stop him.

[Marina laughs]

- Marina, how are you feeling? - All right now.

Excuse us. [reporters shouting]

All right, come on now.

That's enough. Excuse us.

[reporters shouting]

[somber music]

- [Bailiff] Rise.

[somber music continues]

- Sir, my

client,

Mrs. Litvinenko,

as you know, has fought long and hard to reach this,

the opening day of a public inquiry

into the assassination

of her husband in 2006.

That murder

was an act of unspeakable barbarism.

The significance of this dreadful murder, though,

resonates far beyond those immediately involved.

It is a matter of grave national

and international concern.

On his deathbed, Mr. Litvinenko accused Vladimir Putin

of having ordered his assassination,

and we, sir, so on hearing all the evidence out before you

that you will conclude

he was right about that.

[people murmuring]

[elevator dings]

[cellphone ringing]

- Brent.

- Hello, Jim.

Um, sorry to do this out of the blue.

The original interview transcripts,

how do I get those?

- It'll be summaries on the database of Operation Wimble.

- No, not the summaries.

The whole lot.

- [Jim] How soon d'you need it?

- How soon can you get them?

- [Solicitor] Whenever you're ready, I think.

[people chattering]

- Mrs. Litvinenko, when you first met your husband,

what did you understand his job to be?

- He was, uh, Special Unit,

FSB.

- But he had concerns over corruption within the FSB,

did he not,

to the point where he submitted a report

to the head of the FSB?

- That is correct.

- Who was the head of the FSB at that time?

- Vladimir Putin.

- [Robin] Thank you

- Mrs. Litvinenko, when he reported those concerns,

did he think Mr. Putin would act on them at all?

- No.

Very soon Sasha realized that

Putin will not act against these people.

- No?

Why?

- Because Putin knows these people.

He protect them, protect himself.

- Putin was involved in these plots.

That was your husband's view.

- Yes.

- [Sir Robert] Thank you very much indeed.

[bright music]

- [Ben] Sir, the next witnesses

will be from the Metropolitan Police,

members of SO15 Counter Terrorism,

and the detective who led the murder investigation itself.

- The polonium was found in the Itsu restaurant,

where Lugovoy and Kovtun ate,

in the Millennium Hotel, where they stayed,

in the Pine Bar, which they visited,

at the table where they sat,

in the teapot that they ordered,

in the spout of the teapot that they ordered,

that was on the table where they sat,

in both their hotel rooms,

in the U-bend of the basin in Mr. Lugovoy's room,

and, um, oh, several other sites across London,

too long to commit to memory.

- Thank you-

- Including the seats they sat in

on the flight they flew in on from Moscow.

- Thank you Mr. Timmons.

[brooding music]

- Lugovoy was career KGB.

Mr. Litvinenko mentioned that in his statement,

but we, of course, carried out our own investigations,

and were able to verify that.

And if I may, it's worth saying that, just this week,

Mr. Lugovoy was given a medal

for services to the motherland.

- And you mention that...

- We just all thought it was curious timing, that's all.

- [Robin] You interviewed Mr. Lugovoy in December 2006?

- Yes, that is correct.

- Am I right in saying

there is no tape recording of that interview?

- I'm afraid that is also correct.

- [Robin] That is unfortunate, is it not?

- That would be an understatement.

- Now, since you paused Mr. Tam,

may I ask

Mr. Tarpey,

is it right to say that it's not the case

that there was no tape?

- Yes, there was a physical tape.

- There was a tape provided by the Russians

that purported to be of Mr. Lugovoy,

but which was later found to be blank, or wiped, perhaps.

- Yes, that is correct.

- An important clarification, I think.

- Mr. Hyatt, the interviews that you conducted

with Mr. Litvinenko in hospital,

do you have the transcripts with you there?

Now, for this section, sir, unusually,

we will be educing evidence

relating to the death of Mr. Litvinenko

from Mr. Litvinenko himself.

The suggestion is that Mr. Hyatt read

some of his questions aloud for the court

and that I shall read the answers given by Mr. Litvinenko.

Starting then, Mr. Hyatt.

- Um. [clears throat]

At the bottom of page 078,

I'm asking Sasha about the work

he was asked to do by the FSB.

"Your job was to kill.

That's what you're saying. Who?"

- "Enemies of the Russian state.

They give me names. They must be killed.

That is why I am here today."

- "Because you killed?"

- "Because I refuse.

This job is not human.

FSB is corrupt.

I want to tell this to the world."

- Then further on at 085,

I say to him,

"You became a target.

They sent someone over to London."

Uh, Sasha agreed with that,

said he thought someone had been sent

from Moscow to poison him.

Then my colleague, Jim Dawson, asks,

"Do you have any idea who might have ordered this?"

- "I know the man who makes order for this,

the man who says I must die."

- "You have a name? Let's start with a name."

- "His name,

Vladimir Putin."

[ominous music]

[rain pouring] [thunder cracking]

[ominous music continues]

- [Sir Robert] Mr. Emmerson.

- Sir, the final chapter will come, of course,

when you deliver your report.

But the evidence here, sir, is utterly objective,

utterly damning,

and it has the simplicity of undeniable fact.

Polonium-210

is only manufactured

in Russia,

in a tightly-controlled state facility

in Russia.

In the hands of Mr. Lugovoy, Mr. Kovtun,

and Mr. Putin, therefore,

it's not simply a murder weapon

but also a calling card.

- Mr. Emmerson, thank you.

[ominous music continues]

- What Now?

- Now we wait for his judgment.

- To judge the judge.

- [Ben] Exactly.

[door opens]

[Marina groans]

[intercom ringing]

[ominous music]

- Hello?

[ominous music continues]

- Mum.

[door opens]

[ominous music continues]

[streetlamps buzzing]

[Marina speaking in Russian]

You stop.

I will never stop.

[streetlamps buzzing]

[door slams]

[somber music]

[somber music continues]

- The inquiry has found that Mr. Litvinenko

was deliberately poisoned

by Andrey Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun.

The inquiry has also found that Lugovoy and Kovtun

were acting on behalf of others

when they poisoned Mr. Litvinenko.

There is a strong probability

that they were acting under the direction

of the Russian domestic security service,

the Federal Security Service, or FSB.

And the inquiry has found

that the FSB operation to kill Mr. Litvinenko

was probably approved by Mr. Patrushev,

the then head of the FSB,

and by President Putin.

[thunder rumbles]

[Marina speaking in Russian]

[Alex speaking in Russian]

- Hi. - Hi.

Why?

What is this?

Why you hide this from me?

When are you due?

- Any day now.

A little boy.

And, well,

we were hoping...

- Um, we were hoping,

if you'd be so kind,

as to give us your blessing, um,

to name him Sasha.

[Marina sobbing]

[somber music]

[somber music continues]

[somber music continues]

[somber music continues]

[somber music continues]

[somber music continues]

[somber music continues]

[somber music continues]

[birds twittering]

[traffic rumbling]

[birds twittering]

[birds twittering]

[birds twittering]

[bright music]