The Silence of the Skripals

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The Silence of the Skripals

Postby MacCruiskeen » Fri May 11, 2018 8:41 am

Continuing on from this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=40882

The UK corporate and state media have gone completely silent on this outrageously fishy case since the May regime slapped D-notices on them several weeks ago. The European and US media have followed suit. The best reporting I have seen on the Skripal Affair -- instantly exploited, let's remember, as a casus belli by the UK, USA and France -- has been at the consistently excellent website Moon of Alabama (for instance here: http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/04/th ... l#comments )

The following piece is not from MoA, but it is the clearest and most succinct account I have yet read as to why this case matters and shouldn't be allowed to die; why the ongoing silence of the Skripals, and most especially of Yulia, is so disturbing;, and why the explanations offered by May and her spooks make no sense at all.

Links at the source.

____________________________

The Skripals will most likely never be allowed to talk

By Saker

3240 Views May 11, 2018 36 Comments

[This column was written for the Unz Review]
[...]

I want to refocus on the Skripal case. There is one outright bizarre thing which I initially dismissed, but which really is becoming disturbing: the fact that the Brits are apparently holding Sergei and Iulia Skripal incommunicado. In other words, they have been kidnapped.

There was this one single telephone call between Iulia Skripal and her sister, Victoria, in which Iulia said that she was okay (she was clearly trying to reassure Victoria) but it was clear that she could not speak freely. Furthermore, when Victoria mentioned that she would want to visit Iulia, the latter reply ‘nobody will give you a visa’. After that – full silence. The Russian consulate has been making countless requests to have a visit, but all that the Brits have done since is have Scotland Yard post a letter which was evidently not written by Iulia and which said “I have access to friends and family, and I have been made aware of my specific contacts at the Russian Embassy who have kindly offered me their assistance in any way they can. At the moment I do not wish to avail myself of their services, but, if I change my mind I know how to contact them”. What friends?! What family?! Nonsense!

Her sister tried to contact her many times through various channels, including official ones, and then in total despair, she posted the following message on Facebook:

Image

"My darling sister, Yulia! You are not communicating with us, and we don’t know anything about you and Sergey Victorivich. I know that I have no right to interfere in your affairs without asking your permission, but I worry too much. I worry about you and your dad. I also worry about Nuar. [Nuar is Yulia Skrial’s dog, whom she left to stay at a kennel center, while she was traveling to the UK.] He is now at the dog hotel, and they want to get paid. We have to decide something what to do with him. I am ready to take him and to take care of him until you come back home. Besides Nuar, I am concerned about your apartment and your car. Nothing has been decided about their safety and maintenance. We can help with all that, but I need your power of attorney in my or my sister Lena’s name. If you think that all of these is important, draw up a power of attorney form in a Russian consulate in any country. If you won’t do that, we will understand and won’t interfere in your affairs.
Vika“


No reply ever came.

I just entered the following query into Google: “Skripal”. April 10th has an entry saying that she was released from the hospital. That is the most recent one I have found. I looked on Wikipedia, the same thing, there is nothing at all.

I have to admit that when I first heard the Russian complaints I figured that this was no big deal. I thought “the Brits told the Skripals that Putin tried to poison them, they are probably afraid, and possibly still sick from whatever it is which made them sick, but the Brits would never outright kidnap two foreign citizens, and most definitely not in such a public way”.

I am not so sure anymore.

First, let’s get the obvious one out of the way: the fear for the security of the Skripals. That is utter nonsense. The Brits can organize a meeting between а Russian diplomat in the UK at a highly protected UK facility, with tanks, SAS Teams on the standby, helicopters in the air, bombers, etc. That Russian diplomat could speak to them through bullet-proof glass and a phone. And, since the Russians are all so dangerous, he can be searched for weapons. All which the Skripals need to do is to tell him/her “thank you, your services are not needed”. Conversation over. But the Brits refuse even that.

But let’s say that the Skripals are so totally terrified of the evil Russians, that they categorically refuse. Even by video-conference. It would be traumatic for them, right? Okay.

What about a press conference then?

Even more disturbing is that, at least to my knowledge, nobody in the western corporate media is asking for an interview with them. Snowden can safely speak from Russia and address even large conferences, but the Skripals can’t speak to anybody at all?

But here is the worst part of this: it has been two months already since the Skripals are held in total secrecy by the UK authorities. Two months, that is 60 days. Ask any specialist on interrogation or any psychologist what kind of effect 60 days of “specialized treatment” can do to a person.

I am not dismissing the Russian statements about “kidnapping” anymore. What I see is this: on substance, the Skripal false flag has crashed and burned, just like MH17 or the Douma chemical attack, but unlike MH17 or Douma, the Skripals are two witnesses whose testimony has the potential to result in a gigantic scandal, not just for the May government, but for all those spineless Europeans who showed “solidarity” with Britain. In other words, the Skripals will probably never be allowed to speak freely: they must either be killed or totally brainwashed or disappeared. Any other option would result in a scandal of planetary magnitude.

I can’t pretend like my heart goes out to Sergei Skripal: the man was an officer who gave an oath and who then betrayed his country to the British (he was a British agent, not a Russian one as the press writes). Those holding him today are his former bosses. But Iulia? She is completely innocent and as of April 5th (when she called her sister Victoria), she was clearly in good health and with a clear mind. Now she has been disappeared and I don’t know which is worse, the fact that she might never reappear or that she might one day reappear following months of British “counseling”. As for her father, he paid for his betrayal and he too deserves a better fate than being poisoned, used and then disappeared.

[...]
https://thesaker.is/the-skripals-will-m ... d-to-talk/
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Re: The Silence of the Skripals

Postby MacCruiskeen » Fri May 11, 2018 12:05 pm

Russia hits out at Britain over continued blocking of access to poisoned Skripals

Russia's ambassador says relations between Russia and the UK are "very low" after his country was blamed for the poisoning.

17:18, UK,
Thursday 10 May 2018

https://news.sky.com/story/russia-hits- ... s-11366642
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Re: The Silence of the Skripals

Postby Rory » Fri May 11, 2018 12:24 pm

I've read a fair bit from Saker over the years. I don't always agree with his positions but he's a clear thinker - his interviews with Catherine Austin Fitts are good value, for that kind of thing.

He's right here again though. This is kidnapping, and I can't see the Skirpals ever being released. As I said in the other thread, the fact they haven't been paraded for PR purposes is telling - they clearly don't buy in to the narrative and are uncooperative. They're useless if they're no good for embarrassing the Russians so from there the only possibilities are grim.
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Re: The Silence of the Skripals

Postby MacCruiskeen » Fri May 11, 2018 12:43 pm

Yeah, kidnapped. The Sky report I just posted quotes Lavrov as using the word "abducted".

Were Yulia truly free, healthy, and both willing and able to say what they want her to say, just imagine what a propaganda asset she would be! Better than Bana Alabed. May, Johnson and MI6 would be parading her in front of the world's TV cameras.
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Re: The Silence of the Skripals

Postby alloneword » Fri May 11, 2018 5:40 pm

Here's the Russian Embassy position on the question:
The British side has informed us that Yulia Skripal is allegedly unwilling to communicate with the Embassy. It has refused consular access to Sergei Skripal citing his British citizenship. The British authorities claim that Russian nationals must absolutely provide their consent to communicate with consular officers.

We cannot accept such position. In Russia-UK bilateral relations, any communication between citizens and consular officers is regulated by the Consular Convention between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland of 1965. According to its Article 36, “a consular officer shall be entitled within the consular district to communicate with, interview and advise a national of the sending State and may render him every assistance”. As one may see, Article 36 does not contain any reference to the requirement of a person’s consent for a consular visit.

In other terms, such communication is not just a right of a person, but also a right of a consular officer and, thus, a right of the sending State. This right of Russia is being grossly violated by the UK.

Such wording of the Convention is not accidental. A State violating the rights of a foreign national could have easily referred to his/her reluctance to seek protection by a consular officer. The authors of this agreement rightly determined that such reference cannot justify the refusal for communication between a citizen and a consul. The situation with Sergei and Yulia Skripal is a fine example of relevance of such logic of the Convention.

Article 36 also states that “in any case where a national of the sending state has been arrested or is held under any other form of detention… the consular officer shall have the right to visit and to communicate with him without delay”. In accordance with the official comments of the UN International Law Commission, this provision “applies also to other forms of detention (quarantine, detention in a mental institution)”. As the British authorities conceal Yulia Skripal from the public and make official statements on her behalf, such situation is obviously covered by this article.

As for the reference of the British authorities to Sergei Skripal’s British citizenship, it is also unacceptable for us, and that for the following reason. In accordance with Article 30 of the bilateral Consular Convention, “the term “national” shall mean any person whom the sending State recognises as its national”. Sergei Skripal was not stripped of his Russian citizenship (this is prohibited by the Russian Constitution) and did not withdraw from it voluntarily. He remains a Russian national and enjoys full right to communicate with Russian consular officers, and Russia enjoys full right to communicate with him as well. As we understand, the UK follows the same approach in its discussions on consular cases with dual citizens, for example in Iran.

Of course, we do not intend to impose our assistance to our citizens. They are free people. But, considering all circumstances, it is important for us to get assured of their well-being. We are not satisfied with the statements of the British officials that Yulia Skripal does not want to communicate with us. How can we be sure that she has genuinely expressed such will?

We intend to continue to demand an opportunity to communicate with the Skripals in person. If they don’t require our assistance, they can inform us directly. But if the British authorities continue to refuse to facilitate such a meeting, it will mean that the Skripals either have been forcibly isolated, or their condition is different from the one described in official statements.

On 10 May 2018 these positions were conveyed by the Ambassador of the Russian Federation, Dr Alexander Yakovenko, during his meeting with Director General, Consular and Security at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Mr Philip Barton.


Of course Yulia is fine and can speak freely - she told us in that perfect 'BBC English' statement that the Met Police obligingly placed on their website - a month ago today - that she does "not wish to avail [her]self of their services"

A couple of related items that came out over the last few days...

This appears to only be in the 'Telegraph':
Police have finished investigating every area linked to the Skripal poisoning case in Salisbury apart from the former spy's house, Cabinet ministers have been told.
(paywalled)

About which the Russian Embassy commented:
According to a Downing Street spokesman, more than 400 police officers including 250 counter-terrorism specialists have been involved in the inquiry, more than 5000 hours of CCTV and more than 1350 pieces of evidence have been collected, and around 500 witnesses have been identified.

These impressive figures should not mislead. What they actually mean is that despite huge efforts the police have been unable to support the official political version of the incident with facts and proof. The immense work of the police turns out to be meaningless when they are expected not to establish the truth, but to follow the artificial script written by the Conservative government days after the attack. The serious accusations put forward by the UK government still have no basis as there is no evidence of Russia’s involvement in the case, while the myth of the exclusively Russian origin of the chemical poison used has been totally dismantled. No suspects have been identified either.

Meanwhile, Russia is still denied access to the investigation and to the Russian citizens in violation of international law, including the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. After more than two months since the alleged poisoning we have not received any verifiable information about Sergei and Yulia Skripals’ whereabouts, health and wishes.

Once again we have to urge the British side to comply with its international obligations.


Yeah, well... Good luck with that.

And this from TASS:
MOSCOW, May 10. /TASS/. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told reporters at a news conference following talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Thursday that the parties had failed to reach an understanding on the Skripal case.

"We also talked about the Skripal case," he said. "From our point of view, Russia has shown little willingness to take part in the constructive investigation of these acts. We reached no understanding here. We have different assessments, and we exchanged them."

According to Maas, Russia’s stance could discredit the work of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). "We would certainly like Russia to have a more constructive stance when it comes to the evaluation of the OPCW’s work," he said. "We do not think this organization should be discredited in any way."


Not sure the OPCW really need much help there.
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Re: The Silence of the Skripals

Postby Jerky » Fri May 11, 2018 6:12 pm

ROTFLMAOPIMGDP
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Re: The Silence of the Skripals

Postby mentalgongfu2 » Fri May 11, 2018 6:17 pm

"My darling sister, Yulia! You are not communicating with us, and we don’t know anything about you and Sergey Victorivich. I know that I have no right to interfere in your affairs without asking your permission, but I worry too much. I worry about you and your dad. I also worry about Nuar. [Nuar is Yulia Skrial’s dog, whom she left to stay at a kennel center, while she was traveling to the UK.] He is now at the dog hotel, and they want to get paid. We have to decide something what to do with him. I am ready to take him and to take care of him until you come back home. Besides Nuar, I am concerned about your apartment and your car. Nothing has been decided about their safety and maintenance. We can help with all that, but I need your power of attorney in my or my sister Lena’s name. If you think that all of these is important, draw up a power of attorney form in a Russian consulate in any country. If you won’t do that, we will understand and won’t interfere in your affairs.
Vika“



I want to look into this further before making a bunch of uninformed comments. I'll just make this one.

Maybe things work differently when cross-border concerns are involved, and it's possible something can be lost in translation - but in the USA, if my family members were asking me for power of attorney in such a situation, I would be very skeptical of that request. My car and my apartment would not be major concerns to me, while power of attorney as I understand it would allow much, much more. And with the history of abuse and theft that so often accompanies granting that power, I would only do so with someone I trusted fully and without reservation.
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Re: The Silence of the Skripals

Postby JackRiddler » Sat May 12, 2018 12:21 pm

Good idea to continue the old thread here!

First page of old thread.

Last page before switch.
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Re: The Silence of the Skripals

Postby Rory » Sat May 12, 2018 1:14 pm



Good move. Thanks for putting the links here
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Re: The Silence of the Skripals

Postby MacCruiskeen » Sat May 12, 2018 1:57 pm

Thanks, Jack. And yeah, thanks for the links. I encourage anyone who's truly interested in this ongoing scandal to follow those links and check out that thread. The last page of that thread demonstrates exactly why this new thread finally became a necessity.
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Re: The Silence of the Skripals

Postby Rory » Sat May 12, 2018 2:05 pm

Quote. Anyone unironicaly posting White Mike's shite, is a on idiot or a warmonger
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Re: The Silence of the Skripals

Postby MacCruiskeen » Sat May 12, 2018 2:31 pm

No suspects yet in Skripal nerve agent attack, MPs told

UK national security adviser’s admission dashes hopes that police were withholding names

Ewen MacAskill Defence and intelligence correspondent

Tue 1 May 2018 14.51 BST

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/201 ... k-mps-told


No suspects. Nor have they identified any in the eleven days since that press conference. So how do they know it was the Russians? They don't, of course.
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Re: The Silence of the Skripals

Postby MacCruiskeen » Sat May 12, 2018 3:50 pm

MacCruiskeen » Fri May 11, 2018 11:43 am wrote:Yeah, kidnapped. The Sky report I just posted quotes Lavrov as using the word "abducted".

Were Yulia truly free and healthy, and both willing & able to say what they want her to say, just imagine what a propaganda asset she would be! Better than Bana Alabed. May, Johnson and MI6 would be parading her in front of the world's TV cameras.


Bana Alabad, a laughably obvious fake (and a cruelly manipulated child). Pat Tillman also comes to mind, a genuinely brave man posthumously transformed into a fake hero for propaganda purposes. And above all, Jessica Lynch:

Image
"It is time for the truth, the whole truth, versus hype and misinformation." ... "I am still confused as to why they chose to lie" (Jessica Lynch)

Rambo image was based on lie, says US war hero Jessica Lynch

· Tale of heroics was untrue, Congress hearing told
· Dead corporal [Pat Tillman]'s brother says military misled public

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/apr/25/iraq.usa1
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Re: The Silence of the Skripals

Postby Jerky » Sat May 12, 2018 7:49 pm

Actually, no. It's a shitty idea. And there is no "switch". There's only an attempt by Putin's peanut gallery to steer away from all the damning info they find intolerable to contemplate.

The original thread is perfectly fine, and this new one is jam-packed with nothing but the most fucking ridiculous propaganda hot off the Kremlin presses.

J.

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Re: The Silence of the Skripals

Postby JackRiddler » Sat May 12, 2018 7:59 pm

Rory » Sat May 12, 2018 1:05 pm wrote:Quote. Anyone unironicaly posting White Mike's shite, is a on idiot or a warmonger


Explain please, who's this?
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