cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/55370711
cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/55370708
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in a remote Siberian prison two years ago, was almost certainly poisoned with a deadly toxin found in South American dart frogs, five European governments said Saturday.
A joint statement from Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands said they were “confident” Navanly had been poisoned after an analysis of samples taken from his body “conclusively confirmed the presence of epibatidine,” and that the Russian government was the likely culprit.
“Russia claimed that Navalny died of natural causes. But given the toxicity of epibatidine and reported symptoms, poisoning was highly likely the cause of his death. Navalny died while held in prison, meaning Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to administer this poison to him,” it continued.
The five countries said they were reporting the case to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, alleging Russia violated the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Russian authorities had previously claimed Navalny, 47, died of natural causes while serving several sentences totaling more than 30 years at a high-security prison above the Arctic Circle.
“Scientists from five European countries have established: my husband, Alexei Navalny, was poisoned with epibatidine—a neurotoxin, one of the deadliest poisons on earth. In nature, this poison can be found on the skin of the Ecuadorian dart frog. It causes paralysis, respiratory arrest, and a painful death,” she said.
“I was certain from the first day that my husband had been poisoned, but now there is proof: Putin killed Alexei with chemical weapon. I am grateful to the European states for the meticulous work they carried out over two years and for uncovering the truth. Vladimir Putin is a murderer. He must be held accountable for all his crimes.”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the poisoning shows that “Vladimir Putin is prepared to use chemical weapons against his own people to remain in power. France pays tribute to this opposition figure, killed for his fight in favor of a free and democratic Russia.”
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper added: "Only the Russian government had the means, the motive, and the opportunity to use that toxin against Alexei Navalny in prison. We are here today to shine a spotlight on the Kremlin’s barbaric attempt to silence Alexei Navalny’s voice.”
Russia announced Navalny’s death on Feb. 16, 2024, just as that year’s Munich Security Conference opened. On that day, Navalnaya delivered a speech, pledging that Putin “would pay for what they have done to our country, to my family, and to my husband.” After a weeklong dispute over custody, Russia released Navalny’s body to his mother.
You haven’t spent much time on their instances then. Your instance might have defederated from theirs given their penchant for trolling people, brigading them onto other instances, making alt accounts on other instances to troll them, etc. Russia, and China both are held up as exemplars, despite the fact that both are fascist, and Russia is supporting fascists taking over the west, and has been wildly successful, toppling the US which is now helping and will see liberal democracies fall like dominoes to a far right that will be led by the US and Russia to fix elections and the systems so they never lose power.
The death of “democracy,” such as remained of it in the throes of plutocratic rot, 50 years into mainstream parties all being captured by the super rich, in all but name. One group, a selection of the worst people in their respective countries, being put in permanent control over their countries, with elections fixed and for show, like in Russia.
It will get ugly, there isn’t enough time in the day to hash out how it will progress, but it won’t end well for anyone. And thanks to Russia’s bullshit, and their support to our own illiberal fascist big monied oligarchs, we the western world is going to be thrown back into feudalism, right when global warming upends everything faster than we were led to believe because the truth would require us to change our behavior, and we can’t change anything when entrenched interests profit from the way it’s done now, because of that plutocracy.