Russian Opposition Leader Poisoned

The leader of the main opposition movement against the incumbent Russian Government, anti-corruption activist and politician Alexei Navalny, has been admitted to hospital in Berlin after he fell ill while onboard an internal flight in Russia. It is suspected that his illness is the result of his tea being poisoned. This is the second time Mr Navalny is suspected to have been poisoned, presumably as an attempt by the Putin Government to quiet his outspokenness against the corruption within the Kremlin. While in Berlin, Mr Navalny may be far from Vladimir Putin, but is no doubt terrified after a second attempt to kill him by unknown assailants.

Recent political assainations

Navalny is far from the only Putin-critical politician to have had attempts made on his life in recent years. Boris Nemtsov was the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia from April to August of 1998 during the Yeltsin administration, and upon Putin’s ascension to Leader of the country, was one of his harshest critics. Nemtsov had organised and planned many demonstrations against the corruption of Putin’s regime, and had released documents to the Russian press directly connecting Putin with corrupt acts within government. In early 2015, Nemtsov became paranoid that Putin would soon have him killed, and on the 27th of February of that year, he was assassinated by a group of Chechen men who claimed not to know who hired them.

Journalist Anna Politkovskaya had doggedly reported on the Russian Army’s tactics during the Second Chechen War, and had published a book called Putin’s Russia, an insider account of the Putin government. She was assassinated by a group of five men, who also could not recall who hired them.

Vladimir Kara-Murza was the protege of Boris Nemtsov who was elected to the Coordinating Council of the Russian Opposition in 2012, and author of two damning documentaries against the Putin government. He became sick in May of 2015 and fell into a coma, but was revived in June and recovered. in February of 2017, Kara-Murza became ill with the same symptoms, and fell again into a coma. The diagnosis on both occasions was poisoning, and on both occasions, Kara-Murza felt certain that it was deliberate.

A history of corruption

The allegations against Putin and his government for corruption of this nature is not uncommon. Accounts of radiation poisoning, fake sex tapes, intimidation, internet trolling, and even a Putin opponent’s car being defecated on, pop up every few months in Russia. While it may seem like the connection is obvious, neither Vladimir Putin, nor his government, has never been directly connected with any of these allegations.

Any and all opposition against Vladimir Putin is usually quickly silenced, and any evidence of the Government’s involvement is presumably either destroyed, or threatened or bribed into silence. Vladimir Putin is almost in complete control of what happens in the Russian Government, how it conducts itself abroad, and how it manages its domestic issues. Whenever significant opposition appears against Putin, it rarely has a voice for long.

The international community has repeatedly sanctioned and reprimanded Putin’s Government for its conduct, but as long as he remains on the fringe of international law, and while he keeps his grip on his country’s electoral system tight, Putin will continue to rule until his health fails.

stay safe out there.

/e

FILE PHOTO: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny delivers a speech during a rally to demand the release of jailed protesters, who were detained during opposition demonstrations for fair elections, in Moscow, Russia September 29, 2019. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/File Photo