Robert Owen
 Sir Robert Owen    | |
|---|---|
 Pictured at the Royal Courts of Justice on 20 January 2015 | |
| Born | Robert Michael Owen 19 September 1944 |
| Alma mater | Durham School |
Sir Robert Owen is the former High Court Judge who was appointed Coroner at the 2013 Inquest into the 2006 death of Alexander Litvinenko, chaired the 2014 Litvinenko Inquiry and published his Inquiry Report on 21 January 2016.[1]
Untrustworthy verdict
Sir Robert Owen's conclusions (that he was "sure" Litvinenko's murder had been carried out by Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun, and that the two Russians were "probably" acting under the direction of Moscow's FSB intelligence service and with the approval of the FSB's Nikolai Patrushev and President Vladimir Putin) have been described as an "untrustworthy verdict".[2]
Another Whitehall farce
On 21 January 2016, BBC Newsnight presenter Evan Davis spoke to George Galloway, leader of the Respect Party, and Alex Goldfarb of the International Foundation for Civil Liberties and one of Mr Litvinenko's closest friends about the results and implications of the Litvinenko Inquiry. Galloway did not accept Sir Robert Owen's findings and called the Litvinenko Inquiry "another Whitehall farce" – the Hutton Inquiry all over again:
- "We've been through Iraq and the murder of Dr David Kelly, the evidence for which is locked up for 70 years. I was at Yasser Arafat's bedside in France when he died of Polonium-210 poisoning."
Goldfarb said President Putin had been found guilty in the court of public opinion and that history would judge him for three things: the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, the invasion of Crimea and the murder of Alexander Litvinenko.[3]
Facebook reaction
On the U.N. must investigate the targeting of Metrojet Flight 9268 Facebook page, Paul Rigby commented:
- Sir Robert Owen Cocklecroft, sitting before the court in a full nappy, denounced Putin as a pervert, weirdo, and Commie, with ideas above Russia's station.
