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A US senator has been accused of using her married male chief of staff as a sex slave and “forcing” him to perform oral sex inside a car.
Republican politician Marie Alvarado-Gil has been sued by Chad Condit for alleged sexual …
THE sons of a Frenchman accused of allowing multiple strangers to rape his own wife after drugging her are set to take the stand today.
Dominique Pélicot, 71, and 51 other men face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty following a trial at Vaucluse Criminal Court, in Avignon.
Gisele Pelicot (R), accompanied by her sons David (C) and Florian (L), who are set to take the stand today[/caption]
Gisele Pelicot’s daughter Caroline Darian pictured while leaving the criminal court in Avignon, France[/caption]
Dominique Pélicot is accused of recruiting men online to assault his wife repeatedly over 10 years while snapping her own daughter and daughters-in-law naked[/caption]
Victim Gisèle Pélicot (C) sitting in court alongside her daughter Caroline (L)[/caption]
His daughter, Caroline Darian, 46, already spoke in court and described her father as “one of the greatest sexual predators” in recent years.
Caroline was herself secretly photographed in the nude by her father, as were her two sister-in-laws while taking a bath, it emerged in court.
She also revealed the shocking moment her mum first told her of the harrowing ordeal.
And now, Pélicot’s sons Florian and David are reportedly set to take the stand at their dad’s trial today.
The court case has been shocking France over the past week after Gisele Pélicot, 72, waived her legal right to anonymity last Monday at the opening of her husband Dominique’s trial.
Asked to confirm his name and address at the start of proceedings, Pélicot said: “My home is prison, you know it”.
The husband allegedly invited the men he met online to assault his wife Gisele after slipping an anxiety medication into her food to knock her out.
He is said to have then filmed the horrid attacks over nine years between 2011 and 2020.
And before bravely facing her husband at trial, Gisele was shown the horror videos to prepare her for what would be shown in court.
Gisele told the court how she felt when she discovered the real cause of her physical and mental torment.
She said: “He disgusts me. I feel dirty, defiled, betrayed. It was a tsunami, I was hit by a high-speed train.”
On Friday, daughter Caroline spoke in court as she slammed her dad Dominique Pélicot for tearing their “perfect” family apart after the sick accusations came to light.
She is convinced that – like her mother – she was routinely drugged so that her father could defile her.
The photos taken of her were in a file entitled “Around my daughter, naked”, and apparently showed her asleep.
Gisele was subjected to severe sexual abuse by her husband and dozens of other strangers[/caption]
The sick crimes were uncovered by police after Ms Pelicot had no memory of being raped[/caption]
A tearful Caroline recalled seeing the two images for the first time, detailing what The Sun has deemed too disturbing to publish.
She said: “I did not recognise myself, but the police officer pointed out a brown spot on her cheek, like mine.
“There, I discovered myself and I understood that the man who was my father, in whom I had total confidence, who I thought had integrity, who respected his daughter, who was proud of her, who had always encouraged her, I discovered that in fact, my father had photographed me without my knowledge, naked.”
Caroline added: “How do you rebuild yourself from the ashes, when your father is undoubtedly one of the greatest sexual predators of recent years?”
The 46-year-old was followed into the witnesses box by her sister-in-law, Céline Pélicot, a mother of three young children.
Céline who is also in her 40s, said police confirmed to her that there were nude photos of her in the bath, along with similar images of another sister-in-law.
She asked the court: “Where will these photos be when I’m dead?
“These degrading, humiliating shots were taken in the most intimate room.
“Who did he [Dominique Pélicot] send them to? Where are they? Where will they be in five years, in ten years, when I’m dead?
“Will my children one day come across them. Why did he look at me like that?”
As the women gave their evidence, Dominique Pélicot, a retired electrician, started forward impassively.
He remains in custody after being arrested in 2020.
Wife Gisele had to watch the horrific videos of her assaults to prepare herself ahead of trial[/caption]
Police found images on Pélicot’s camera and laptop that showed multiple alleged rapes of his wife between 2011 and 2020.
Wife Gisele Pélicott, who has sat in court throughout the five days, has already described the moment Caroline found out about the allegations that her husband had drugged her before organising the rapes.
She said: “When I told my daughter, she screamed like a wild beast. I will never forget this.
“When I told my sons about this, I don’t think they really understood, they were withdrawn and didn’t react much. I think they were in a state of shock. They said don’t say such silly things.
“That evening, the children rang all the time saying don’t disappear – they were worried I might die.”
Dominique Pélicot was first caught in September 2020, when he was arrested for secretely filming up women’s skirts at a supermarket in Carpentras.
His devices were searched, and there were hundreds of photos and pornographic videos of women, including family members.
It was while in custody that Pélicot reported a hard drive, hidden under a printer, which contained a file called Abuses.
It classified the nickname and telephone numbers of attackers, together with some 3,800 photos and videos of Gisèle Pélicot being raped, between 2011 and 2020.
Detectives have listed a total of 92 rapes committed by 72 men, 51 of whom have been identified.
Pélicot moved his family from greater Paris in 1991, and later allegedly set up the sex ring.
It involved advertising on a site for “partners” on an online forum called ‘Without Her Knowing’ on the coco.fr site.
Of the 83 men involved, 51 aged between 26 and 73 were identified and arrested by the police.
Pélicot is said to have sedated his wife by putting a powerful anxiolytic drug into her dinner.
Alleged rapists involved in the case include civil servants, ambulance workers, soldiers, prison guards, nurses, a journalist, a municipal councillor, and truck drivers.
In a separate case, Pélicot has been charged with raping and murdering a 23-year-old estate agent in Paris in 1991.
He has admitted one attempted rape in 1999, after DNA testing proved a case against him.
The Avignon aggravated rape case continues, and is due to last until December 21.
Fourteen of the other defendants have admitted rape, while the rest deny any wrongdoing.
Women’s Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – messageinfo@supportline.org.uk.
Women’s Aid provides a live chat service – available weekdays from 8am-6pm and weekends 10am-6pm.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
THE self-proclaimed “Owner of the Universe” has been arrested after a two-week manhunt over allegations of sexual abuse and human trafficking.
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A BABYSITTER allegedly beat a six-year-old boy to death with a piece of wood while his mum was at work.
Disney-loving Chance Crawford was brutalised after Ernest Lamar Love, 41, is suspected of flying into a rage when the boy wet himself a…
THE Frenchwoman allegedly drugged by her husband and raped by scores of men while unconscious has revealed the agonising moment cops showed her pictures of the terror.
Gisele Peli…
This story seems straightforward. A city is the victim of a ransomware attack. They repeatedly lie to the media about the severity of the breach. A security researcher repeatedly proves their statements to be lies. The city gets mad and sues the resear…
THE FAMILY of a ballerina detained by Putin’s cronies have said they fear she could be killed inside the prison just like Alexei Navalny.
Ksenia Karelina, 33, was taken away by Russia’s FSB security services on suspicion high treason after she raised just £41 for the Ukrainian army.
Karelina being taken away on suspicion of ‘high treason’ by members of FSB[/caption]
Putin’s top rival Alexie Navalny was killed inside a Russian Prison[/caption]
Putin has been accused of killing all his political opponents[/caption]
Her worried family is now pleading for help to have her freed and brought home to the US.
Karelina’s former mother-in-law told the New York Post: “We are all in shock.
“She is just a wonderful soul. She would never do anything evil to anyone.”
Her family says they fear Karelina could be killed inside the prison for going against Putrin’s agenda, just like Navalny.
“We are so worried because we are reading stories about [Alexei] Navalny’s supporters arrested for mourning him,” she added.
“Knowing Ksenia, she would never do anything criminal.
“Her mom and dad had recently divorced and she wanted to see the family.”
Karelina, who holds a dual Russian-US citizenship, was travelling to Russia to spend New Year’s Eve with her parents.
However, the 33-year-old dancer was detained in January by local police in her hometown of Yekaterinburg and accused of “petty hooliganism”
She was later arrested by Putin’s FSB officers who claimed to have found her “involved in providing financial assistance to a foreign state”.
Karelina was suspected of collecting money for a New York-based Ukrainian organisation called Razom for the past two years since Putin invaded Ukraine and started his bloody war.
Reports suggested she only raised £41 for the cause.
She has also been accused of participating in public events in the US to help support Ukraine.
Dramatic footage shows the ballerina being taken away with her hat covering her eyes by Putin’s cronies.
She was then paraded blindfolded and in handcuffs by masked security agents in a Russian courtroom Tuesday.
Karelina’s ex-mother-in-law and her ex-husband are now fighting to get her back in the US.
“My son was calling her, and when we found out what had happened, we have all been in shock,” the lady added.
“He told me this morning ‘Let’s think what we can do to help her.’ We don’t want to cause her any trouble.”
Karelina reportedly arrived in the US in 2012 – and got married to her ex-husband the next year.
The couple, who were based in Maryland, divorced a few years ago before Karelina moved to California.
Political scientist Fyodor Krasheninnikov claimed: “She probably supported Ukraine a couple of times on social networks, maybe she collected something there.
“If you participated in any anti-war protests, wrote something on social networks, or, especially, donated to Ukrainians or encouraged them to do this, think a hundred times.
“Do you really need to go to Russia urgently? A second passport will not save you from anything.”
Karelina’s detention casts more light on Putin’s crackdown on dissent days after Russian authorities announced Navalny’s death in prison.
The top Putin rival was found dead at the feared “Polar Wolf” jail, where he was serving a three-decade sentence, as he went on a walk, said prison authorities.
Russia gave the official cause of death as “sudden death syndrome” on Saturday, say Navalny’s family and lawyer.
But no one has been allowed to see his body yet outside of Russian cops and selected emergency responders as an autopsy is still yet to be conducted.
This has led to speculation over his ‘real’ cause of death as many fear the worst for Putin’s biggest critic.
Just two days ago, Navalny’s heartbroken wife accused Putin of murdering her husband with the deadly nerve agent novichok in jail.
Yulia’s sensational claims come as Russian authorities continue to refuse to let Navalny’s family see his body.
The 47-year-old widow has also called out the Kremlin for “lying and waiting” for the fatal toxins to vanish before they release his body.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the claims are “nothing but unsubstantiated accusations because they are not supported by anything, not confirmed”.
Yesterday, Navalny’s mother Lyudmila Navalnaya, 69, stood outside the intimidating Arctic jail in sub-zero temperatures and demanded Putin release her son’s body.
She said in a video: “Behind me is the penal colony IK-3 Polar Wolf, where my son Alexei Navalny died on February 16.
“For the fifth day, I cannot see him. They don’t give me his body and they don’t even tell me where he is.
“I appeal to you, Vladimir Putin, the solution to the issue depends only on you. Let me finally see my son.
“I demand that Alexei’s body be immediately handed over so that I can bury him humanely.”
February 14: Several officers from the FSB, the Russian intelligence service, are said to have paid a visit to “Polar Wolf” prison — and proceeded to disconnect and dismantle some of the security cameras and listening devices there.
February 16, 2.17pm local time: Navalny, 47, was officially reported to have died.
February 16, 2.19pm: The prison service put out what appeared to be a prepared press release.
It read: “On February 16, 2024, in correctional colony No. 3, convict Navalny A.A. felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness.”
February 16, 2.23pm: A state-controlled channel on the Telegram messaging site claimed the cause of death was a blood clot, or thrombosis.
February 16, 2.30pm: Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, fronted the media about Navalny’s death.
February 16: US President Joe Biden blasted: “Make no mistake, Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death. Even in prison he was a powerful voice for the truth.”
February 16: Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: “Obviously, Putin killed him.”
February 16: Protesters and mourners line the streets of Russia and other cities worldwide to pay their respects to Navalny.
February 17: Navalny’s mum Lyudmila Navalnaya, 69, said to be told she couldn’t see her son until an “examination” was completed.
February 17: Russian authorities claim the dad died of “sudden death syndrome”.
February 18: Navalny’s body is said to be covered in bruises ‘ showing signs of someone being held down whilst having convulsions’, paramedics said.
February 19: Navalny’s wife Yulia accuses Putin of killing her husband using deadly novichok agent
February 19: Russian authorities say body won’t be handed over for another two weeks “until a chemical examination is completed”.
The FSB has recently detained a record number of people for alleged espionage and high treason.
This includes a string of scientists – some in their 70s – accused of supplying hypersonic missile secrets to the West or China.
Putin’s henchmen are said to be engaged in a “spy mania” witch-hunt among leading aerospace academics.
Six world-class hypersonic and laser scientists have been detained so far, one of whom died in custody.
“They are starting to see enemies everywhere,” said one Western diplomat. “It feels like paranoia.”
Also among those detained on espionage charges is Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
The American, 32, was falsely jailed over bogus spy charges and has spent 278 days behind bars so far.
He was arrested by the FSB on March 29 while on a reporting trip in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.
Russia continues to extend his pre-trial detention without providing any public evidence to back up their claims.
Washington has repeatedly called the charges “ridiculous” and President Joe Biden branded Gershkovich’s detention as “totally illegal”.
The WSJ denies the charges and has called for his immediate release, as has his family.
He is the first Western reporter to be jailed on espionage charges in Russia since the Soviet era, and he faces a prison term of up to 20 years if convicted.
Just last year, Russian warlord Igor Girkin was also arrested after branding Putin a “useless coward”.
The commander-turned-military blogger repeatedly criticised the tyrant and warned the country would not survive another term under him.
Picture of Karelina behind the bars of a Russian prison[/caption]
RUST film armourer Hannah Gutierrez Reed’s trial begins today – two years after the movie’s cinematographer was fatally shot on set.
Halyna Hutchins, 42, died on the film set in New Mexico in October 2021 after a prop gun held by actor Alec Baldwin fired a live round of ammunition during a rehearsal.
Hannah Gutierrez Reed’s trial begins today – she is charged with the involuntary manslaughter of Halyna Hutchins and tampering with evidence[/caption]
![FILE – OCTOBER 21: Director of Photography Halyna Hutchins was killed and director Joel Souza was injured on set while filming the movie “Rust” in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on October 21, 2021. The film’s star and producer Alec Baldwin discharged a prop firearm that misfired while loaded with blanks, according to the Hollywood Reporter. […]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/8553ca96-0e2c-404f-9ebe-ef2a91308290.jpg?strip=all&w=643)
Rust’s lead actor, Alec Baldwin, has also been charged with manslaughter[/caption]
Police bodycam footage showing Bladwin on the film set in Sante Fe in the immediate aftermath of fatal shooting[/caption]
Gutierrez-Reed, 25, has pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence in an ongoing case that has rocked Hollywood to its core.
She claims she mistakenly loaded a live round into a .45 revolver that the film’s lead actor Baldwin, 65, was rehearsing with.
Hutchins was killed when the prop gun went off at point-blank range at the Bonanza Creek Ranch film set in Sante Fe.
Rust’s director, Joel Souza, was also hit and injured in the shooting.
The highly-anticipated trial is expected to last until December 15.
Gutierrez-Reed tried to get the case thrown out, but a judge ruled last week that it could proceed.
Baldwin was re-charged with involuntary manslaughter in January, despite having two previous charges dropped last April after investigators said new evidence had come to light.
The Mission Impossible star was charged against last month after prosecutors in New Mexico said “additional facts” had emerged following forensic tests on the gun used in the shooting.
On January 31, he entered a not guilty plea to the new charges. No date has been scheduled for his trial.
Baldwin, who was also a producer on Rust, is facing a prison sentence of 18 months to three years if found guilty.
The father-of-seven previously said he only pulled back the hammer of the gun and denied pulling the trigger that caused the gun to fire.
But his claims will be called into question at his trial.
He also has argued he is not at fault because he had no knowledge that the weapon contained live rounds as no live ammunition was supposed to be on set.
Baldwin called Hutchin’s death an “accident” and a “one-in-a-trillion episode” on set.
HALYNA Hutchins was killed on the set of Western blockbuster ‘Rust’ – here is a timeline of key events that followed the tragedy.
October 6, 2021 – Production on Rust begins in Sante Fe, New Mexico
October 21, 2021 – Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins is shot and killed by a prop gun that actor Alec Baldwin was rehearsing with
Nov 17, 2021 – The script supervisor files a lawsuit accusing Baldwin of ‘playing Russian roulette’ by pointing revolver at Hutchins
Dec 2, 2021 – Baldwin speaks out and denies pulling the trigger and said he has ‘no idea’ why live rounds where on set
Jan 12, 2022 – Armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed files a lawsuit against the ammunition box manufacturer for ‘failing to state the boxes contained both live and dummy rounds’
Feb 15, 2922 – Hutchins’ family files wrongful death suit against Rust’s producers
April 20, 2022 – Rust production fined over failures that led to ‘avoidable death’
October 5, 2022 – Hutchins’ family reach settlement with production company and Baldwin
Nov 11, 2022 – Baldwin files lawsuit alleging negligence of several crew members
Jan 31, 2023 – Involuntary manslaughter charges announced against Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed
Feb 23, 2023 – Baldwin pleads not guilty
March 31, 2023 – David Hall, Rust’s first assistant director, sentenced to six months probation after pleaded guilty for unsafe handling of a firearm
April 20, 2023 – Manslaughter charges against Baldwin dropped
June 22, 2023 – Gutierrez-Reed additionally charged with tampering with evidence
August 9, 2023 – The armourer pleads not guilty
Jan 19, 2024 – Baldwin indicted by grand jury again for manslaughter
Jan 31, 2024 – Baldwin again pleads not guilty
Gutierrez-Reed speaks with a sheriff’s deputy as a colleague stands next to her on the set of Rust straight after the shooting[/caption]
Prosecutors have alleged that the movie armourer was taking drugs during production[/caption]
Alec Baldwin is interviewed by detectives in 2021 – his manslaughter trial has no date set[/caption]
As the movie’s armourer, Gutierrez-Reed was in charge of firearms.
Investigators found six live rounds on set, including some in a box of dummy ammunition.
Prosecutor Kari Morrissey has argued that Gutierrez-Reed brought “live rounds on to a movie set”.
“She failed to discover them for 12 days,” Morrisey claimed. “She loaded one of them into a gun. It was then manipulated by an actor and very foreseeably someone died.”
The armourer was first charged with manslaughter early last year, but charges of evidence tampering were added when she allegedly refused to provide information regarding the live rounds.
Prosecutors also allege that armourer Gutierrez-Reed had passed drugs to someone on the day of the shooting to avoid being arrested herself.
Jurors will also be hearing evidence from text messages that suggest the armourer was drinking alcohol as well as taking drugs the night before the fatal shooting.
Gutierrez-Reed’s phone also allegedly contains text messages that suggest she was smoking cannabis at her hotel during production, The Guardian reports.
One text to a crew member reportedly reads: “I might go smoke in the jacuzzi soon.” Another said: “Headed down to get high out back.”
The state reportedly intends to use the texts to attempt to prove she was negligent in her role on the set of Rust.
Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyers have accused the prosecutors of attempting to assassinate her character with “rumours and improper comments on her guilt”.
They declared that she is being used as a “scapegoat” for the shooting.
Last year, David Hall, Rust’s first assistant director, pleaded guilty to unsafe handling of a firearm when he handed Baldwin the loaded revolver.
He was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation.
Hutchins’ widower, Matthew, filed a wrongful death lawsuit after the shooting but settled in October 2022 with Rust’s producers, including Baldwin.
“I have no interest in engaging in recriminations or attribution of blame (to the producers or Mr. Baldwin),” he said after the settlement.
“All of us believe Halyna’s death was a terrible accident. I am grateful that the producers and the entertainment community have come together to pay tribute to Halyna’s final work.”
Matthew Hutchins took on an executive producer role on the film as a tribute to his late wife.
The filming for Rust was completed, with additional filming in Montana, and is waiting to be distributed.
In May 2023 as filming officially wrapped, Baldwin said: “It’s been a long and difficult road.
“But we reach the end of the trail today. Congratulations to Joel [Souza], Bianca and the entire cast and crew. Nothing less than a miracle.”
‘Rust’ was far from the first on-set fatality to shake Hollywood.
The Crow (1994) – Brandon Lee, son of the actor and martial artist Bruce Lee, was killed in an on-set accident while filming the superhero film, The Crow. He was shot in the chest with a mishandled prop gun during a gangster scene.
The Exorcist (1973) – On the spooky film, actors Ellen Burnstein and Linda Blair would suffer serious back injuries after a mechanical malfunction took place during filming.
Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) – Actor Vic Morrow and two child actors, Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen, were killed in a helicopter crash while shooting the film. The force of the film explosions forced the helicopter to nosedive onto the set, killing all three. The segment’s director was tried and later acquitted during a trial that lasted a decade.
Top Gun (1985) – Seasoned pilot and cameraman Art Scholl was killed in an aeroplane crash while filming Top Gun, starring Tom Cruise. His body and plane were never recovered.
Vampire in Brooklyn (1995) – While filming the cult classic, Angela Basset’s stunt double, Sonja Davis, was killed after she fell 40ft to her death.
The Walking Dead (2017) – A stuntman on the TV show died of blunt force trauma after he fell of a balcony on-set while rehearsing a stunt for the show’s 8th season.
The Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018) – The third instalment for the dystopian film franchise led to lead actor, Dylan O’Brien, being hospitalised after an action sequence. It took him six months to recover from his brain trauma and facial fracture.
Baldwin has claimed he did not pull the trigger of the gun that fatally shoot Hutchins[/caption]
The film has finally been wrapped but has no release date[/caption]
The A-lister described the end of filming Rust as a ‘long and difficult road’[/caption]
INMATES at the hellhole ‘Polar Wolf’ prison have spoken about a “mysterious commotion” the night before Alexei Navalny died.
Prisoners at the brutal Siberian jail spoke of an “out-of-the-blue” search of the cells, a tight lockdown and the noise of cars the night before the death of the Russian opposition leader was reported.
An inmate of the Arctic jail says the was a lot of “commotion” the night before Navalny’s death[/caption]
Navalny with his wife Yulia – he is said to have sent her a Valentine’s Day message before his death[/caption]
The outspoken Putin critic, 47, collapsed and died in jail on Friday with Russian authorities later stating his death was caused by “sudden death syndrome” amid widespread claims he was “murdered” by the Russian despot.
It was later alleged his body had been found covered in bruises, fuelling the theory he was killed with a “hallmark of the KGB” method – one punch to the heart after being forced to spend hours in freezing temperatures.
An inmate at the brutal jail described the unusual circumstances of the night before Navalny’s death and explained why he is certain the Putin enemy had died much earlier than it was reported by Russia.
He told Novaya Europe: “It all started when they really sped up our evening search. This usually happens on holidays when the guards are in a hurry to go and celebrate, but yesterday wasn’t a holiday.
“Then they locked us up, forbade any movement between barracks, and tightened security.
“We heard cars drive onto the prison grounds late at night but couldn’t see through our cell windows what they were.”
He said the guards then proceeded to conduct an extensive search of the prisoners’ cells the next morning seizing items they had previously turned a blind eye to – such as phones, deck cards and even coil heaters.
There was no ambulance in the colony that morning — it only appeared after the news of Navalny’s death became known
The prisoners were made to understand that an outside inspection was coming up – however, he notes that both guards and the inmates would normally be informed about such inspection a month in advance.
The following morning at 10am, the news about Navalny’s death started to spread around the prison.
Navalny’s time of death was reported as 2.17pm local time on Friday but the source’s evidence suggests it had happened the night before.
The inmate continued: “The punishment cell area that [Navalny] had been placed in is located somewhat to the side of the barracks, but we would have seen an ambulance drive up to it.
“But there was no ambulance in the colony that morning — it only appeared after the news of Navalny’s death became known.
“So I think he died a lot earlier than was stated officially — the night before, most likely. Why else would they completely lock us up and search us so thoroughly?”
The source explains that both the warden and the prison’s head of operations appeared distraught in the wake of the news being announced.
He said: “In the afternoon, several cars drove up to the administration unit. One was from the IK-18 prison, one from Salekhard, and a few others from Labytnangi, apparently.
“I think they wanted to coordinate their stories before the inspectors arrived.”
The inmate’s testimony comes after footage appears to show Navalny’s body being smuggled out of prison overnight.
His grieving family has still not been allowed to see his body and no official autopsy has been performed.
A paramedic who saw the body said it was covered in bruises and had consistent marks that could show he was “murdered” after it was suggested he suffered a seizure in jail.
“The person is convulsing, they are trying to restrain him, but the convulsions can be very strong, and that’s why bruises appear.”
There were also signs that jail medics had tried to resuscitate Navalny, because there were signs of “chest compressions”.
Navalny, Putin’s main critic in Russia, was serving a 19-year prison term at the IK-3 Arctic prison colony following a sham trial.
The activist was first picked up by Vlad’s brutal police in 2021 after returning to Russia following an assassination attempt.
Navalny also went missing from a hellish Russian jail last year – and his supporters warned at the time that he could be executed.
He was later found in one of the toughest prisons in the country in Siberia – known as “the Polar Wolf” colony.
Navalny was serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges at the IK-3 Arctic prison colony[/caption]
The 47-year-old’ died ‘s body was said to be covered in bruises[/caption]
PUTIN’S best known opponent Alexei Navalny, 47, has died in prison.
Here is a timeline that took the leader of the opposition from the face of freedom in Russia and the Kremlin’s biggest foe to a hellhole Siberian prison and onto an early grave.
June 4, 1976 — Navalny is born in a western part of the Moscow region
1997 — Graduates from Russia’s RUDN university, where he majored in law
2004 — Forms a movement against rampant over-development in Moscow
2008 — Gains notoriety for calling out corruption in state-run corporation
December 2011 — Participates in mass protests sparked by reports of widespread rigging of Russia’s election, and is arrested and jailed for 15 days for “defying a government official”
March 2012 – Further mass protests break out and Navalny accuses key Kremlin cronies of corruption
July 2012 — Russia’s Investigative Committee charges Navalny with embezzlement. He rejects the claims and says they are politically motivated
2013 — Navalny runs for mayor in Moscow
July 2013 — A court in Kirov convicts Navalny of embezzlement in the Kirovles case, sentencing him to five years in prison – he appeals and is allowed to continue campaign
September 2013 — Official results show Navalny finishes second in the mayor’s race
February 2014 — Navalny is placed under house arrest
December 2014 — Navalny and his brother, Oleg, are found guilty of fraud
February 2016 — The European Court of Human Rights rules that Russia violated Navalny’s right to a fair trial
November 2016 — Russia’s Supreme Court overturns Navalny’s sentence
December 2016 — Navalny announces he will run in Russia’s 2018 presidential election
February 2017 — The Kirov court retries Navalny and upholds his five-year suspended sentence from 2013
April 2017 – Survives an assassination attempt he blames on Kremlin
December 2017 — Russia’s Central Electoral Commission bars him from running for president
August, 2020 – Navalny falls into a coma on a flight and his team suspects he was poisoned. German authorities confirm he was poisoned with a Soviet-era nerve agent.
Jan 2021 — After five months in Germany, Navalny is arrested upon his return to Russia
Feb 2021 — A Moscow court orders Navalny to serve 2 ½ years in prison
June 2021 — A Moscow court shuts down Navalny’s Foundation for Fighting Corruption and his extended political network
Feb 2022 — Russia invades Ukraine
March 2022 — Navalny is sentenced to an additional nine-year term for embezzlement and contempt of court
2023 — Over 400 Russian doctors sign an open letter to Putin, urging an end to what it calls abuse of Navalny, following reports that he was denied basic medication & suffering from slow poisoning
April, 2023 — Navalny from inside prison says he was facing new extremism and terrorism charges that could keep him behind bars for the rest of his life
Aug 2023 – A court in Russia extends Navalny’s prison sentence by 19 years
Dec 2023 – He disappears from his prison as his team fear he could be assassination. He then reappears weeks later in one of Siberia’s toughest prisons – the ‘Polar Wolf’ colony
A BRIT jailed in Siberia has blasted Vladimir Putin as a “vengeful coward” who is “personally responsible” for the murder of Alexei Navalny.
Vladimir Kara-Murza, 42, is serving a draconian 25 year sentence for supposed “treason” after criticising Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine.
From inside his prison cell, Vladimir Kara-Murza has bravely told Russians to ‘stop’ ‘vengeful’ Putin[/caption]
Alexei Navalny died last week inside a Siberian jail with new reports he was killed by a ‘single punch to the heart’[/caption]
Kara-Murza holds both a British and Russian passport and worked as a prominent opposition politician in Moscow before he was locked up on trumped-up charges of treason last year.
It is the first time Kara-Murza has spoken out since fellow opposition figure Navalny died last week in a similar hellhole Arctic jail, with new reports claiming the Putin foe was killed by a “single punch to the heart”.
There is now major concern for the “very ill” Brit who is feared to be “next” on Putin’s hit-list after angering the brutish Russian leader with his ongoing critique of the Kremlin regime.
“Vladimir Kara-Murza is imprisoned on false charges, he is very ill and following Navalny, it is clear that he is next,” Dr Stepan Stepanenko, head of the Forward Strategy foreign policy think-tank, told The Sun.
His wife, Evgenia shares his fears, declaring over the weekend that her husband and other political prisoners are in grave danger.
And yet brave Kara-Murza from his icy cell has called on Russians to act against Putin, declaring: “He must be stopped…and only Russian society itself can do this.”
Like Navalny, opposition activist Kara-Murza was the victim of two poisonings that he blames on Putin’s secret services.
He now suffers from permanent nerve damage and has been shut away for a quarter of a century in bleak condition, which Dr Stepnaneko thinks he may never survive.
“He may even die before he is murdered,” Stepanenko said. “Kara-Murza’s battle is not just against his captors but against time itself.
While Kara-Murza said he was not aware of specific details of Navalny’s death, he knew “one thing for sure”.
“Vladimir Putin personally bears responsibility for the death of Alexei Navalny.
“Because Alexei was his personal prisoner. And only on his personal orders could the poisoners from the 2nd FSB service act.”
The same applied to “investigators, prosecutors and judges who processed cases and sentences” as well as “high prison officials who created torture conditions”.
The British government and MPs are said to be working to have Kara-Murza – who also holds Russian citizenship – swapped in a prisoner exchange and allowed to travel to Britain.
But the prisoner pulled no punches in his first comments on Navalny’s death.
“This man [Putin] has brought death with him throughout the 25 years of his power.”
“[Journalist] Anna Politkovskaya, murdered as a birthday gift [to Putin], in her entrance. [Politician] Boris Nemtsov, shot in the back near the Kremlin,” he added.
He had previously worked as was a close aide to murdered opposition politician Boris Nemtsov – who was shot dead by a hit squad in Moscow in 2015.
Kara-Murza continued: “Alexei Navalny ‘lost consciousness after a walk’ in prison… The best are dying – the bravest, the most sincere, the most caring.
“Everyone returns – except those who are most needed.
“Only Putin – the vengeful, cowardly, greedy old man – still holds on with a death grip, destroying anyone in whom he sees a threat to his power.
“He must be stopped. And only Russian society itself can do this.”
The former activist and journalist was sentenced to 25 years in April, 2023 by Putin’s cronies for spreading “false” information about Russia’s war in Ukraine.
He denied all the charges, comparing the case against him to a Stalinist show trial.
When he was sentenced last year. Navalny – speaking from his own penal colony – called his punishment “unlawful, unconscionable and quite simply fascist”.
Navalny said: “I saw him after the second poisoning and witnessed how his health was already almost destroyed.
“The term that he received is revenge for the fact that he did not die at the chosen time, having survived two poisonings…by the Russian FSB [Federal Security Service].”
Kara-Murza’s wife, Evgenia, who lives in the U.S. with their three children, tweeted after the verdict: “A quarter of a century is an ‘A+’ for your courage, consistency and honesty in your years-long work. I am infinitely proud of you, my love, and I’m always by your side.”
He was arrested only weeks after Russia’s full-scale invasion and just hours after CNN broadcast an interview with him in which he said Russia was run by “a regime of murderers”.
The politician was convicted in a hasty closed trial.
Before he was led away, he defiantly declared: “Russia WILL be free, tell everyone”.
In January, Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said he was “deeply concerned” over the fate of the dissident after he – similarly to Navalny in December – suddenly disappeared from SIZO-1 prison in the remote city of Omsk.
Evgenia later discovered he had been transferred to IK-7, another hellish prison in the city, and immediately placed in a punishment block.
His only crime was not standing up in time when the guard commanded him to “rise” and now he is spending four months in solitary confinement.
More than 160 Russian citizens have been imprisoned for opposing the war, according to human rights group OVD-Info – however Kara-Murza’s sentence is the harshest so far.
A total of 19,854 Russians were arrested between February 24, 2022 and January 28, 2024 for speaking out or demonstrating against the invasion.
Soon after Kara-Murza was sentenced last year, The Sun spoke to Evgenia who insisted her husband would never give up his struggle.
She told The Sun that her jailed husband isn’t brave, but “stubborn”.
That stubbornness, Evgenia said, also comes out of her husband’s genuine love for his country.
“My husband is a genuine Russian patriot, and he has fought for years to bring change in our country,” she said.
Kara-Murza’s distressed wife, Evgenia, said she that she fears for his life after Navalny’s death[/caption]
The ‘Polar Wolf Colony’ in Siberia where Navalny spent his final days[/caption]
By Jerome Starkey, The Sun’s Defence Editor
NAVALNY’S death is shocking – but there’s also a sense of inevitability about this.
His spokesperson had warned that they thought he was being slowly killed in prison.
And indeed, the lifespan of Kremlin critics is tragically short.
It was astonishing in many ways that Alexei Navalny had survived.
We’ve had Latvia’s president calling this a brutal murder by the Kremlin.
We’ve had President Zelensky of Ukraine, saying Putin killed him.
Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Schulz and France’s Foreign Minister are saying that Navalny paid for his principles with his life.
There is certainly no doubt that as a result of his political activism. As a result of daring to stand up to Vladimir Putin.
Alexei Navalny exposed himself to enormous risk and hardship. We know that he was poisoned.
We know that he’s been jailed. He’s been held in horrific conditions. Indeed, you know.
Many, many days of his time in this penal colony have been in solitary confinement in punishment cells.
His health appears to have been deteriorating. So in that sense, you know, he’s been jailed by the regime that Putin leads.
He’s been poisoned with a nerve agent, a military grade nerve agent that is only really available to Putin’s assassins.
And that clearly would have had long-term health implications. So in that sense, clearly the Kremlin regime, led by Vladimir Putin, is culpable for his death.
It is not clear yet exactly what caused his death. But there’s no doubt that the Kremlin regime, led by Vladimir Putin, is culpable to some extent because of what they’ve inflicted.
