Fugitive Russian businessman Yevgeny Chichvarkin said on Sunday he believed his mother was murdered and he would not return from Britain to attend her funeral.
The body of Lyudmila Chichvarkin was found in her apartment on Leninsky Prospect in western Moscow by a housemaid on Saturday. According to preliminary forensic investigations, the 60-year-old fell and hit her head on the corner of a table.
"The woman suffered from hypertension. She could have lost consciousness and fallen down," a police source said.
Chichvarkin told the Russian News Service that he did not believe his mother's death was an accident. He added that there had been reports he blamed the Russian authorities, but this was not true.
"I do not blame the security forces for the death of my mother, because as yet I do not know why it happened. But I do not believe it was an accident," the businessman said. "I believe it was murder."
Chichvarkin said he would not come to Russia for the funeral. A prosecutor said earlier on Sunday he would be arrested on arrival.
The former CEO of cell phone retailer Euroset is wanted in Russia on suspicion of involvement in the 2003 abduction of Euroset's shipping agent, who allegedly stole large quantities of mobile phones. The businessman has been residing in Britain for almost a year.
In December 2009, London's Westminster Magistrates' Court adjourned hearings into Russia's extradition request for Chichvarkin until August 2, 2010.
MOSCOW, April 4 (RIA Novosti)
