Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded June 24th, 2024
Almost six years since her death in Amesbury, Wiltshire mystery still surrounds the demise of Dawn Sturgess. The stuff of spy fiction, Sturgess, in life as far from international intrigues as anyone could be, in perishing was placed at the heart of the infamous Skripal Affair; a case that back in 2018 threatened relations, and perhaps even armed conflict, between Russia and Britain.
The Sturgess Inquiry, begun then belayed in 2021, and scheduled to begin again in October, was in the news last week as UK government-appointed solicitors for Sergei and Yulia Skripal submitted "their clients'" refusals to participate in the forthcoming public inquiry. The Skripals, father and daughter, are integral to the explanation of the cause of Sturgess' death, as laid out by the Coroners Service: Novichok poisoning. Its reasoning makes Sturgess and her surviving partner, Charlie Rowley collateral victims in an alleged Russian assassination plot against former GRU agent, Sergei Skripal carried out in Salisbury months before her death.
But, the case, rife already with irregularities, a dubious origin story, and obvious geopolitical complications will call into question any conclusions the inquiry can possibly arrive at.
John Helmer’s a journalist and author who’s spent decades living in and reporting from Russia. He’s the principle behind the web news site, Dances with Bears, and has too been a professor of political science, sociology, and journalism, and served as advisor to governments at the highest levels.
Among his many book titles are: ‘The Man Who Knows Too Much About Russia,’ ‘The Lie That Shot Down MH-17’, ‘SOVCOMPLOT: How Pirates Tried to Capture the Treasure of the Russian Seas, and Were Caught Out’, the lately released autobiography, ‘Dunce Upon a Time: A Life of Mistakes’, and ‘Skripal in Prison,’ the first and perhaps only book to follow the Skripal saga from its beginnings. His recent article at Dances with Bears is, 'BRITISH GOVERNMENT INVENTS PHANTOM SKRIPALS TO REFUSE TO TESTIFY IN THE NOVICHOK INQUIRY'.
Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, broad/webcasting since 1999. Check out the Archive at Gorilla-Radio.com, GRadio.Substack.com, and the GR blog at: https://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.com/
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