London - A corner's court is scheduled to open an inquest on
Thursday after the suspected murder of Nikolai Glushkov, who is said
to have been an enemy of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Counter-terrorism police launched a murder investigation after
Glushkov, 68, sometimes known as Glouchkov, was found dead at his
London home on March 12.
The Metropolitan Police said a pathologist's report gave the cause of
death as "compression to the neck."
It said counter-terrorism officers were leading the probe "because of
the associations Mr Glushkov is believed to have had."
The inquest by the West London coroner comes amid a diplomatic row
following the nerve-agent poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei
Skripal and his daughter in the British city of Salisbury.
A police officer stands on duty outside the home of Nikolai Glushkov in New Malden, on the outskirts of London. Picture: Simon Dawson/Reuters
Glushkov's family issued a statement via the police on Wednesday,
saying they were "devastated at the loss of Nikolai and are coming to
terms with our grief."
The police said there is "nothing to suggest any link to the
attempted murders in Salisbury, nor any evidence that he [Glushkov]
was poisoned."
Glushkov is a former friend and business associate of the late
Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, who was found hanged in London in
2013.
Police officers walk out of an alleyway cordoned off near a house in New Malden, south west London which has been sealed-off after Russian businessman Nikolai Glushkov was found dead. Picture: Matt Dunham/AP
Police believed Berezovsky committed suicide, but Glushkov and other
friends had raised doubts about the death. A coroner recorded an open
verdict.
Bill Browder, the founder of Hermitage Capital Management and an
outspoken critic of Putin, said Glushkov's death was a "very
disturbing development."
"Another Russian enemy of Putin, Nikolai Glushkov, found dead at his
London home," Browder tweeted.