With the tightening of the laws in Russiathe increase in persecution and censorship and control over citizens, many journalists and activists were forced to flee the country in search of safety and to be able to continue their work from abroad.
However, what initially appeared to be a solution, over time proved not to be.
He fbi and the germany police are investigating the case three anti-Putin women who presented suddenly unusual symptoms that could account for a poisoningone of the favorite practices of the Russian leader.
In addition to indicating discomfort, the women share other common denominators: they had all performed works critical of Putin and the war in Ukraineand, therefore, they had fled to USA and Europe.
“It is strange because many of us came to Europe and we feel we are safe but we are not”, commented the radio journalist Irina Babloyan to The Wall Street Journal.
Last October, Babloyan was in tbilisi, GeorgiaWhen he started to feel a abdominal pain which was followed by redness and swelling in the hands. Believing that it was a allergic reactionhe continued with his agenda and moved to Germany, where he was treated according to that idea.
However, it turned out to be more than that. The Berlin prosecutor’s office held a conversation with her but closed the investigation after concluding that the poisoning had not occurred in her country. But they did not rule out this possibility. Nor could they determine what it was that her body had rejected.
Similar was the complaint filed by Elena Kostyuchenkowho suddenly fell ill while traveling on a train from Munich to Berlin.
Kostyuchenko worked for 17 years in the newspaper Novaya Gazeta and was one of those in charge of reporting the war from Ukraine. In March, the Kremlin’s censorship was stronger and the outlet closed.
The journalist then moved to Berlin and, from there, began reporting for the Russian-language media outlet jellyfish. Coincidentally, during his trip to Munich he would sign the necessary papers to be able to report from Ukraine again.
During this journey of just under four hours, Kostyuchenko began to present strange symptoms such as sweating and strong smell, fatigue, nausea and abdominal pain.
Like many after the 2020 pandemic, he believed that it was a picture of coronavirus but subsequent analyzes revealed a abnormal liver activity and blood in your urine.
In December, the German police contacted her again and took more blood samples for toxicological analysis, although they could not determine what substance triggered the symptoms that persist to this day and do not allow her to work for more than a few hours.
In any case, the prosecutors opened an investigation under the cover of assassination attempt.
The third known case in recent times affected Natalia Arnoa veteran activist founder of the Free Russia Foundationwhich fights for the defense of civic organization in the country and periodically analyzes the situation there.
Although he now lives in Virginia, the United States, he said he fell ill in early May in Prague. According to what she told the FBI, one night when she returned to her hotel, she found the door of his room ajar and a strange smell of perfume near the bed.
At the time he did not present suspicions about it but, after an hour, he woke up with a strong toothache which, later, moved to other parts of the body.
Once again, the authorities took blood samples for toxicological analysis, although they have not reported any accurate results.
Even the researchers have not been able to define whether the cases are related nor if, in the event that they have actually been poisoned, what agent was used. They also have no clues as to who would be behind these murder attempts.
What is certain is that the Kremlin has spent years trying to silence the opposition and, even since February 2022, the pressure on independent journalists has only increased.
Shortly after the launch of the offensive on Ukraine, the Russian Duma approved a new law that provides for jail sentences to those who publish what – according to the Kremlin – is false information or goes against the official narrative of the “special operation”.
As a result, media such as Ekho Moskvy and Novaya Gazeta were forced to cease their activities in the country and other Westerners such as CNN, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journalto withdraw their journalists from the territory.
Evan Gershkovic was the last American victim of the Kremlin, arrested on March 29 by the Russian Federal Security Service on charges of espionage. Gershkovich is a journalist for the wsj accredited by the Moscow Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was in the country on an informative tour.
Both he and Washington deny the accusations and maintain that it is an unfair detention.
Like Gershkovich, just as many journalists have been targeted by Putin. The Kremlin is accused of being behind the poisonings of critics like Alexei Navalny -who is also serving time in prison- and Alexander Litvinenkoa former KGB agent and critic of the Russian President, who died after drinking tea laced with a deadly radioactive isotope.
Moscow denies its participation in these events and distances itself, in turn, from the three reported by investigators from Berlin and the United States.
But, with the long record of opponents killed in strange conditions, the Committee to Protect Journalists warned that these facts are extremely alarming and called for urgent action in this regard.
“The German and Georgian authorities must treat these accusations with the utmost seriousness and do everything possible to safeguard the lives of journalists living in exile,” said CPJ program director Carlos Martínez de la Serna.
Meanwhile, in an attempt to give visibility to their cases and alert their peers, the three women made their experiences known.
“Many of my colleagues and independent journalists are all over the world and they have to be very vigilant,” Babloyan concluded as he awaits any response from the investigators.
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Source-www.infobae.com