Tag: Russia
The Mysterious Deaths Of Russian Journalists
Whether or not Putin is behind it, a lot of Journalists have ended up dead in Russia.
The dangers to journalists in Russia have been well-known since the early 1990s but concern over the number of unsolved killings soared after Anna Politkovskaya’s murder in Moscow on 7 October, 2006. Russia has become one of the most dangerous countries for journalists. Besides numerous cases of assault and battery as well as frequent threats against media representatives, there has been a string of suspicious deaths among prominent Russian reporters. Some of these incidents have attracted international attention since they involved leading critics of the Russian government. The failure of Russian law enforcement agencies to secure a court conviction in any of these cases has only deepened the mystery surrounding the murders. Here’s all of the Russian Journalists who were killed during the Obama administration during which Hillary Clinton famously handed the Russians a ‘Reset Button‘. 200930 March – Sergei Protazanov, layout artist with Grazhdanskoye soglasie newspaper, Khimki nr. Moscow. Link to work questioned. 29 June – Vyacheslav Yaroshenko, chief editor of Corruption and Criminality newspaper in Volgograd died after a severe head injuries in June. He was allegedly struck in the temple by the unknown assailant, although the local police claims fall from the ladder as the reason for injury. 15 July – Natalia Estemirova, a human rights activist with Memorial, who worked with journalists from Novaya gazeta, especially Anna Politkovskaya, and occasionally published in the newspaper herself, having been a TV reporter pre-1999. After years of investigating murders and kidnapping in Chechnya, Estemirova was herself abducted that morning in Grozny and found shot to death by the roadside several hours later in neighbouring Ingushetia. 11 August – Malik Akhmedilov, deputy chief editor of the Avar language newspaper Khakikat (Truth), was found shot dead near the Dagestan capital Makhachkala. 25 October – Maksharip Aushev was shot dead in Nalchik, capital of Kabardino-Balkaria. When Magomed Yevloyev gave up running Ingushetia.ru, and his replacement (Rosa Malsagova) had to flee abroad to escape threats and harassment, Aushev ran the successor website Ingushetia.org. Link to past or present work unclear. 16 November – Olga Kotovskaya, Kaskad radio & TV company, Kaliningrad. Died in a fall from 14th storey-building under suspicious circumstances. Investigation under “Incitement to suicide”. 201020 January – Konstantin Popov died from a beating received a fortnight earlier by Russian police in a detoxification centre for the drunk and disorderly. A 26-year-old police sergeant was charged with his killing. 23 February – Journalist Ivan Stepanov was stabbed to death at his dacha. The murderers have been arrested and sentenced to 16 and 18 years of prison. 20 March – Maxim Zuyev was found murdered in a Kaliningrad flat he was renting. Seven years earlier he was interrogated by the city’s police for publishing an anonymous letter alleging corruption among high-ranking police officers in the enclave. The Investigative Committee has marked the case as “crime solved. 5 May – Shamil Aliyev, founder of two radio stations and a director of TV network was shot in his car by two unidentified attackers, who also killed his bodyguard and wounded his driver. 13 May – Said Magomedov, director of local television station, Sergokalinsky district, Dagestan. Shot dead when travelling with repairmen to restore sabotaged TV transmitter. 25 June – Dmitry Okkert, Moscow. A presenter with the Expert TV channel, Okkert was found stabbed to death in his own apartment. The director of the Expert media holding, Valery Fadeyev, does not believe that the brutal killing of his colleague was linked to his journalistic activities. 25 July – Bella Ksalova, Cherkessk. A correspondent for the Caucasian Knot website and news agency, Ksalova died in a hospital after being hit by a car near her home. The driver was sentenced to 3 1/4 years in penal colony. 1 August – Malika Betiyeva, Grozny-Shatoi highway. The deputy chief editor of Molodyozhnaya smena, and Chechnya correspondent of the “Dosh” (Word) magazine, died with four of her immediate family when a speeding jeep crashed into her car. 11 August – Magomed Sultanmagomedov, Makhachkala. The director of the Makhachkala TV station died in the hospital after his car was shot at from another vehicle. This was preceded by an attempted bombing on 18 November 2008. 23 October – Yevgeny Fedotov died in a hospital due to the head injuries received in a violent quarrel with his neighbour. The latter has been charged for manslaughter. 201115 December – Gadzhimurat Kamalov, Makhachkala. Investigative reporter – shot 6 times in a drive-by outside his newspaper’s offices. 20127 July – Alexander Khodzinsky, journalist in Tulun, was stabbed to death by a local businessman Gennady Zhigarev, former deputy. 5 December – Kazbek Gekkiev, journalist for local TV programmes in Kabardino-Balkaria, was shot dead on a Nalchik street, after getting threats from local wahhabi extremists. 20139 July – Akhmednabi Akhmednabiyev, deputy editor of the Novoe Delo was killed (after numerous death threats and previous assassination attempt in January 2013 by several gunshots while he was driving just 50 metres from his house on the outskirts of provincial capital Makhachkala. 20141 August – Journalist and human rights activist Timur Kuashev was abducted from his home and later found dead in Kabardino-Balkaria. Kuashev was previously stopped by local police a number of times and received death threats. 2016March 31 – Journalist Dmitry Tsilikin was stabbed to death in his flat in Saint Petersburg. The suspected killer is neo-nazi Sergey Kosyrev. The murder is attributed to Tsilikin’s homosexual orientation. 2017March 17 – Yevgeny Khamaganov died of unexplained causes in Ulan-Ude. Khamaganov was known for writing articles that criticized the federal government and was allegedly beaten by unknown assailants on March 10.
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While The Mainstream Media Focuses On Russia, The Government’s Own Data Shows U.S. Interfered In 81 Elections
While the US spin machine hurls accusations about Russian election meddling, it’s worth nothing the US is a seasoned pro at interfering in elections.
Ask an average American who makes a habit of following government-mouthpiece corporate media about interference in national elections and you’ll likely elicit a nebulous response concerning Russian hackers and a plan to install Donald Trump in the White House — but you probably won’t hear a single syllable pertaining to United States government’s actual attempts to do the same.
On Monday, FBI Director James Comey confirmed for the first time publicly the bureau is officially investigating hotly contentious allegations of Russian meddling in the U.S. election — but, even if proven true, such geopolitical escapades better characterize the routine behavior of accuser than of accused.
“The F.B.I., as part of our counterintelligence effort, is investigating the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 president election,” the director announced, adding the bureau would conduct a probe to discern whether Trump’s associates had contact with Russian officials.
Despite that the U.S. has hypocritically exerted influence over foreign elections in all corners of the globe — in fact, it has arrogantly done so a whopping 81 times between 1946 and 2000, alone — with just one-third of those operations undertaken overtly.
US agencies have interfered with 81 elections not including coups. #CIA
Overview: https://t.co/E5E9IvdbgU
Study: https://t.co/wwPV5G9Jg8
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) March 20, 2017
For months, mainstream media parroted murky accusations hurled by politicians — keen to point a finger of blame for the apparently stultifying victory of a former reality television host on someone — that The Russians had somehow surreptitiously undermined the election-centric foundation of American Democracy.
While that has yet to prove true, this new Red Scare constitutes a duplicitous attempt by the pot to call the kettle … an election meddler.
Researcher Dov Levin of Carnegie Mellon University’s Institute for Politics and Strategy — an expert on the topic at hand — discussed the lengthy but incomplete list of times the U.S. government has interfered in other nations’ elections with NPR’s Ari Shapiro.
Asked for examples where this tampering tangibly altered results, Levin stated,
“One example of that was our intervention in Serbia, Yugoslavia in the 2000 election there. Slobodan Milosevic was running for re-election, and we didn’t want him to stay in power there due to his tendency, you know, to disrupts the Balkans and his human rights violations.
“So we intervened in various ways for the opposition candidate, Vojislav Kostunica. And we gave funding to the opposition, and we gave them training and campaigning aide. And according to my estimate, that assistance was crucial in enabling the opposition to win.”
Levin reiterated the more blatant methods with which the U.S. asserts dominance — through the overt coups or all-out regime changes branding the nation a notorious interventionist — are not among the list of the 80-plus attempts to manipulate the electoral outcome.
As for the issue of pot versus kettle, Levin explained that — although Russia and other powerful nations indisputably employ similar tactics — the United States has been quite prodigious in its effort.
“Well, for my dataset, the United States is the most common user of this technique. Russia or the Soviet Union since 1945 has used it half as much. My estimate has been 36 cases between 1946 to 2000. We know also that the Chinese have used this technique and the Venezuelans when the late Hugo Chavez was still in power in Venezuela and other countries.”
As sanctimonious U.S. politicians cry foul about The Russians, it would behoove the new McCarthyites to reflect on the nation’s sticky imperialist fingerprints around the globe — like that time in 1996, when the United States undertook an extensive, secret operation to ensure the presidency of Boris Yeltsin.
That is, of course, former President Boris Yeltsin — of the Russian Federation.
Five Pakistani Congressional Staffers In Criminal Probe Over Unauthorized Computer Access
Dozens of House Democrats have collectively paid $4 million since 2009 to Pakistani IT professionals now under criminal investigation who had access to House members’ email and computer files.
Five people employed by members of the House of Representatives remain under criminal investigation for unauthorized access to Congressional computers. Former DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz employed at least one of those under investigation.
The criminal investigation into the five, which includes three brothers and a wife of one of the men, started late last year, as reported by Politico in February. The group is being investigated by US Capitol Police over allegations that they removed equipment from over 20 members’ offices, as well as having run a procurement scheme to buy equipment and then overcharge the House.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said last week Capitol Police are receiving additional help for the investigation. “I won’t speak to the nature of their investigation, but they’re getting the kind of technical assistance they need to do that, this is under an active criminal investigation, their capabilities are pretty strong but they’re also able to go and get the kind of help they need from other sources,” Ryan said.
The brothers, Abid, Jamal and Imran Awan, worked as shared employees for various members of the House, covering committees relating to intelligence, terrorism and cybersecurity, which included the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Homeland Security and the Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces of the Armed Services Committee.
Imran’s wife, Hina Alvi, and Rao Abbas, both of whom worked as House IT employees, are also under investigation.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz
The group were banned from accessing the computers as a result of the investigation but, as of earlier this month, Imran Awan remains as an “technology adviser” to former Democratic National Committee chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was forced to resign in July following revelations that she worked to further Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the Democratic primary at the expense of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
News of the brothers’ investigation has sparked speculation that it may be tied to the hack of the DNC servers, the contents of which were first released by Guccifer 2.0 and later published on WikiLeaks.
Russian actors have been accused of being behind the hack, which Democrats claim contributed to Clinton’s loss to Donald Trump. There have also been reports that the DNC hack came from an insider.
@Cernovich Can’t blame the Russians for Awan brothers, why is no one talking about them since were investigating leaks!
— JCross (@ccross5882) March 21, 2017
@Cernovich Were Dems really hacked? Looks like they’ll give just about anybody access to their computers. No ? asked.
— Sr Admin Official (@Im_Effin_Dunn) March 20, 2017
@TomFitton What is the actual proof specifically that in fact it was Russia doing hack of DNC because Awan Brothers issue disturbs me
— Cheryl Aschenbrenner (@CherylAschenbr2) March 21, 2017
An email between DNC staffers in April 2016, which was released by WikiLeaks, references a staff member named Imran and how this person has access to the passwords for Wasserman Schultz’s iPad.
Garret Bonosky, deputy director of office of the DNC chair, tells Amy Kroll: “I have to get [this iPad] thing figured out. Need to make sure I have her username and password before I delete and reload the app.”
“I do not have access to her ipad password, but Imran does,” Kroll replies, later writing: “Just spoke to Imran, call me whenever GB and I’ll update you, don’t delete anything yet.”
Another email from the DNC hack, dated December 2016, references Imran once again. Wasserman Schultz’s assistant Rosalyn Kumar tells scheduler Anna Stolitzka: “[Nancy] Pelosi is doing [a] closed door meeting. No staff or anyone allowed. Kaitlyn come to Rayburn room and get her iPad for Imran.”
6-Figure Salaries
The brothers were paid high salaries for their work with various House members, above the median salary for Congressional staffers.
Imran, who started working for Wasserman Schultz in 2005, received $164,600 in 2016, with close to $20,000 of that coming from Wasserman Schultz.
Jamal, who started working as a staffer in 2014, was paid $157,350.12 in 2016.
Abid, who started working in 2005, was paid $160,943 in 2016.
Hina Alvi, who was employed as a staffer from February 2007, was paid 168,300 in 2016.
Rao Abbas was paid $85,049 in 2016.
The Daily Caller reports that Imran received $1.2 million in salary since 2010, while Abid and Alvi received over $1 million each.
House Democrats supporting the employees have suggested that the Pakistani nationality of the suspects may have inspired the investigation.
Media Propaganda Of The Day: Comey Confirms Inquiry On Russia
New York Times front page: “Comey Confirms Inquiry on Russia and Trump Allies” but “Dismisses a Wiretapping Claim”
In the world of “Fake News” wording is everything.
[pdf-embedder url=”https://commonsenseevaluation.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/NYTimes-front-page.pdf” title=”NYTimes front page”]
NSA Director Admiral Rogers says there is no intelligence that votes were changed by Russian involvement in the 2016 elections.
The Words Of The New York Times Will Come Back To Haunt Them!
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