So. Who Was Really Silenced By Polonium?
We haven’t heard much from Litvinenko’s partner-in-crime, Mario Scaramella lately. That’s because they locked him up and threw away the key.
Mario is enjoying a little break from prison at the moment, but only under guard in the local hospital. Here he is said to be suffering from tachycardia, collapses, high blood pressure, blackouts, thyroid and prostrate swelling and hair loss. Oh, and a couple of heart attacks too.
Hmmmm. So how’s he doing? Senator Paolo Guzzanti says he has received a tearstained letter from Mario’s moll - one of the very few reported to have visited Scaramella in prison. Girlfriend Giorgia allegedly writes:
‘Today I embraced a man who had nothing left of Mario. No life, no enthusiasm, no character . . . They have killed Mario. My Mario is no more. Today I have seen a small, fragile, weak person, frightened, defeated… I write to you crying from the pain and the anger: I would have preferred he was dead than to see him destroyed in this way.’
Given that Litvinenko and Guzzanti were both mired in Mario’s scams, you wonder if they should also be rotting in jail now. But the Senator has diplomatic immunity, while Litvinenko’s immune systems failed in a different way.
There are charges against Scaramella but no one wants to press them. As with the Litvinenko case, officially it’s zip it and shut it. Unofficially, of course, the ’smearmeister’ Berezovsky is still bringing his own charges against Putin in the media, but these are becoming less credible with every month of official silence that passes.
Just back in April, Berezovsky planted the story, KGB Men To Face Litvinenko Murder Charges Yet nothing of the sort ever happened.
The ‘news’ was attributed to ’sources close to Litvinenko’s widow’, aka Berezovsky. Really. Paid hacks might have thought to check with the UK Crown Prosecution Service.
CPS’ Julie Sedon states that the case is very complicated, that it is currently reviewing a specially appointed lawyer, and that no one can say exactly how long this process will last; In addition, no information about the case can be disclosed.
Meanwhile, in Italy, Mario tells girlfriend that he could face another two years darkness without due process. So what is on the charge sheet? Principally, it concerns the slander of a Ukrainian KGB defector, Talik, whom Scaramella set up with the help of Litvinenko.
We can confirm this because Mario’s only other reported visitor to the slammer is Boris Volodarskomu, a historian and, co-incidentally, a consultant to the Litvinenko enquiry. He tells:
In Rome I was able to get a unique document - a copy of the formal charges. Very interesting accusation. Scaramella is charged with the defamation of Alexander Talik. That’s it. No other charges. The only official reason he was arrested, detained in prison until the present time, and hardly likely to be released anytime soon, is the attempted slander of a former KGB captain.
In the same interview with Svoboda News , Boris relates that Mario’s interrogations are only about Litvinenko and the false evidence gathered for the Mitrokhin Commission. Says Boris:
‘So, his arrest is clearly linked to Alexander Litvinenko.’
Well, call me sentimental, but I was worried about Mario’s distressed girlfriend, so I e-mailed Berezovsky’s Litvinenko Justice Foundation. Since Mario and Sasha were deep in the same shit, couldn’t they do something for him?
Apparently not. Louise Christian of The ‘Litvinenko Justice Foundation’ - title always makes me laugh - insists that Scaramella was arrested for totally unrelated crimes. Even though Litvinenko is implicated on the only official Italian charge against Scaramella.
Actually, the LJF website is a piece of work. Note the ‘Polonium Trail’ section. Entirely missing from the Berezovsky LJF map are hotspots like Boris’ own home and Alexander Litvinenko’s place.
Thank goodness for the BBC and AJ Strata. At least Litvinenko’s neighbours in London’s Osier Crescent are now aware that Sasha’s stash of Polonium may make his abandoned house uninhabitable for years to come.
Can’t help thinking though. No one had heard of Mario Scaramella before he met Litvinenko. And now no one has heard from him since. Funny sort of coincidence.
…One or two come, everyone goes,
Scaramella! No, you’re not going home,
(Going home?!) Scaramella you’re not going home!
(Going home?!) Scaramella you’re not going home!
(Going home?!) you’re not going home!
(Going home?!) you’re not going home (I want to go) Ah,
No, no, no, no, no, no, no!
My apologies to Queen. I might even do a complete parody….
Every now and then you pen a line worthy of greater recognition.
“while Litvinenko’s immune systems failed in a different way”
Brilliant
[...] More post-Litvinenko madness What’s the deal with Mario Scaramella? (tags: Russia) [...]
A little bit of inspiration goes a long way. Here is my Opus.
Bum Rap (the Scaramella remix) by Aleks, (my thanks to Queen & Copy Dude).
Is this a half life?
Or is this just purgatory?
Caught in Po scam,
No escape planned dramatically,
Look up at the sky,
Swear at the cops then pee,
I’m just a chastened son, but can’t defy gravity,
Because I like easy bucks, easy to blow,
Mountain high, river low,
Any way Raymond Briggs writes it is always perfect for me,
For me,
Mama, didn’t kill a man,
He wore no pants lined with lead,
Drank someone else’s tea and now he’s dead,
Mama, it was my greatest scam,
But now I’ve really gone and blown it all away,
Mama, ooh,
Didn’t mean to say goodbye,
If I’m not back for tea and quaresimali tomorrow,
Call the press, call and the press the matter,
Too late, I’m royally stuffed,
I’m riddled through the spine,
Illness spreading all the time,
Goodbye, Mr. bank man, but I don’t want to go,
Gotta do a Count of Montecristo if I can,
Mama ooh (that’s the way the wind blows),
This prison really sucks,
I wish I’d stayed somewhere by lake Como,
I see the ghost of the Litvineneko man,
Scaramella, Scaramella, I’m coming to take you,
Tortelini with ricotta, give me lots of pesto,
(Galileo) Galileo,
(Galileo) Galileo,
Galileo figaro 99 Flake?
I’m just a busted scammer and nobody’ll touch me,
He’s just a busted scammer left swinging by Berezovsky,
Lock him away and throw away the key,
One or two come, everyone goes,
Scaramella! No, you’re not going home,
(Going home?!) Scaramella you’re not going home,
(Going home?!) Scaramella you’re not going home,
(Going home?!) you’re not going home,
(Going home?!) you’re not going home (I want to go) Ah,
No, no, no, no, yes, really? no,
(Oh mama mia, mama mia) Mama mia, save my balls,
Berezovskybub is the devil in disguise, ignoring me, ignoring me, ignoring me,
So you think you can hide me and wait for me to die,
So you think my friends don’t belive all my lies?
Oh Sasha, I didn’t do this to you, Sasha,
Just gotta wriggle out, just gotta wriggle right out of here,
Half-life doesn’t matter, everyone has seen,
Half-life doesn’t matter,
Half-life doesn’t matter to me,
So that’s the way the wind blows…
Hi Dude,
Great article (and funny too). I just have one remark about your comment on Scaramella never making heard of him before. It’s not entirely true. He was actually involved before in two scams which managed to hit at least Italian national news. He was involved in an attempt to get public subsidies to a project (most probably only present in his fertile imagination) to spot the nukes left by a Russian sub in the Bay of Napoli. The sub existed of course, but actually sunk in the Bay of Biscay… lol
Another time, he was involved (again under the protection of the then not yet Italian Senator) in a local fight against the Camorra to get rid of illegal waste dumps. This second scam helped him get some local fame because he found himself (accidentally) taken in a gunfight when investigating a suspect location.
Both events and their international repercussions can be found in the Italian press (local and national).