poisonings

The Russian government has a message for its citizens living in exile: nowhere is safe for you. For years, it’s made this threat clear by subjecting its critics abroad to intimidation, forced repatriation, and assassination attempts. And just as the Kremlin has taken increasingly draconian measures to silence dissent at home since launching the full-scale war in Ukraine, it’s also devised new tactics for targeting activists, journalists, and politicians far beyond its borders. For insight into how Moscow’s approach to transnational repression has changed over the last two years, The Naked Pravda turned to journalist and activist Dan Storyev, who serves as the managing editor of OVD-Info’s English-language edition, and Yana Gorokhovskaia, the research director for strategy and design at Freedom House.

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Timestamps for this episode

• (10:22) Case study: An abduction in Kyrgyzstan
• (16:40) The goal of Moscow’s repressions abroad
• (20:10) How countries unwittingly “work hand-in-hand with the Kremlin”
• (23:41) How the Kremlin’s tactics have changed since 2022
• (28:29) How Russia takes advantage of the Interpol system to repatriate citizens
• (34:18) Transnational repression by Belarus

Как поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

David Marr with the story of his great-great-grandfather Reg Uhr, who led murderous expeditions with the Native Police during Queensland’s frontier wars CW: mentions the names of Aboriginal people who have died

David Marr with the story of his great-great-grandfather Reg Uhr, who led murderous expeditions with the Native Police during Queensland’s frontier wars CW: mentions the names of Aboriginal people who have died

A wave of poisonings is taking place in classrooms around Iran. The first documented incident took place back in November at one school in the city of Qom. But the attacks have ramped up recently, with reports of thousands of girls being affected at hundreds of schools nationwide. The poison attacks come on the heels of a protest movement that took off last year in the country under the banner of “woman, life, freedom.” Between the protests and the poisonings, what does the future look like for girls in Iran?

In this episode: 

• Dorsa Jabbari (@DorsaJabbari), Al Jazeera correspondent

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Negin Owliaei, with Ashish Malhotra, and our host, Malika Bilal. Khaled Soltan fact-checked this episode.

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Andy Greiner and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers. 

Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer, and Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio.

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

Eliza Fenning worked as a cook in a London household until she found herself in the middle of a poisoning accusation. Her controversial trial brought the bias of the 19th-century British criminal justice system into focus. 

Research:

• “Circumstantial Evidence.” The Abilene Gazette. June 23, 1876. https://www.newspapers.com/image/367010505/?terms=eliza%20fenning&match=1
• Hempel, Sarah. “The Inheritor’s Powder.”  W. W. Norton & Company. 2013.
• Hempel, Sarah. “Eliza Fenning: the case of the poisoned dumplings.” The Telegraph. June 17, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130620172222/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/10117903/Eliza-Fenning-the-case-of-the-poisoned-dumplings.html
• Clarke, Kate. “Trial of Eliza Fenning.” Mango Books. May 2021.
• “Circumstantial evidence : The extraordinary case of Eliza Fenning, who was executed in 1815, for attempting to poison the family of Orlibar Turner, by mixing arsenic in yeast dumplings. With a statement of facts, since developed tending to prove her innocence of the crime.” https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/pdf/b21051732
• Watkins, John. “The important results of an elaborate investigation into the mysterious case of Elizabeth Fenning: being a detail of extraordinary facts discovered since her execution, including the official report of her singular trial, now first published, and copious notes thereon.” London. William Hone. 1815. Accessed online: https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/pdf/b2840807x
• MARSHALL, TIM. “Not Forgotten: Eliza Fenning, ‘Frankenstein’, and Victorian Chivalry.” Critical Survey, vol. 13, no. 2, 2001, pp. 98–114. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41557107
• “The Story of Eliza Fenning.” The Wells Journal. August 8, 1857. https://www.newspapers.com/image/812381127/?terms=eliza%20fenning&match=1

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