WThe family of former British Army officer and White Helmets co-founder James Le Mesurier today said they were in the dark about the circumstances of his death in Istanbul.
Mr Le Mesurier plunged from a second-floor window at his office and apartment building in the Turkish city yesterday morning.
His body was found in the Beyoglu district by worshippers on their way to a mosque, according to reports.
Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said police established that no one had entered or left his home at the time, and believe he could have fallen to his death.
At the Surrey home of his sister today, a family member declined to comment on the investigation and said: “We still don’t know [anything].”
It came days after a Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman accused Mr Le Mesurier of being a former British agent working in the Balkans and the Middle East.
The 48-year-old founded charity Mayday Rescue and provided training for the White Helmets civil defence group, which digs people from the rubble of bombed-out buildings in Syria.
His wife Emma Winberg is the director of Mayday Rescue.
Today Karen Pierce, the UK’s representative to the UN, called Mr Le Mesurier a “true hero”, and said claims he was a spy were “categorically untrue”.
The Istanbul governor’s office said “comprehensive administrative and judicial investigations into Le Mesurier’s death have been initiated”.
