There is a new information that refutes the official version of the murder of Russian journalists in the Central African Republic. This is the British edition of the Independent. Now a private group hired by Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, on whose initiative, in fact, the journalists set off for the CAR, took up the investigation into the circumstances of this very strange case.
Recall, on August 31, the bodies of three citizens of the Russian Federation were found in the Central African Republic: journalist Orhan Jemal, director Alexander Rastorguev and cameraman Kirill Radchenko. According to the version that is supported by the authorities of the country and the Russian Foreign Ministry, journalists are victims of an armed attack by an opposition group. The task of Jemal and his comrades was to create a story about the infamous Wagner military company about the activities in the CARs.
What independent detectives have dug up
In their material, British journalists point out that the results obtained by Khodorkovsky’s group smash the official version of what happened. They also point to the involvement in the tragedy of the authorities of the country and, possibly, of Russian mercenaries, the activities of which were studied by reporters.
About the first results of the investigation Independent told journalist Roman Popkov. According to him, the attackers were waiting for Orhan Jemal and his comrades in ambush, and they even had to build a temporary camp. From this we can conclude: we are not dealing with a random attack, but with a well-prepared action, and the killers knew exactly where and when the group would pass. Then the camp was abandoned.
In addition, valuables remained in the car, including clothing, technical equipment and gas canisters. If the attackers were Africans, the car was robbed cleaned.
According to Popkov, a car with three men of European appearance with two local residents drove after the car of the journalists following the passage of the car. They were armed and very much like a "soldier of fortune." About an hour after the murder, the car with the alleged mercenaries drove in the opposite direction.
Today there are several versions of the death of Jemal and his colleagues. Almost immediately after the tragedy, the authorities of the Central African Republic declared that Russian journalists had been killed by members of the Muslim Muslim organization Séléka, which controls a large part of the country's territory. Now this interpretation of events is supported by the Russian official authorities.
However, there are many inconsistencies here: the territory where the murder occurred is considered fairly safe, and it does not belong to the zone of influence of Séléka. Not less questions and cause the testimony of a local driver who miraculously managed to survive and even escape from the attackers. According to him, the journalists were killed by a group of people in turbans who spoke Arabic. Recently, the driver said that Russian journalists were armed. How the Arabs found themselves in the very heart of Africa, and how the illiterate native could recognize the Arabic language (and not Chinese or Hindi) history, as they say, is silent.
One of the most popular unofficial versions is the involvement in the tragedy of the PMCs of Wagner, who allegedly thus wanted to hinder the journalistic investigation. But there are many inconsistencies in it. It has been known for a long time about the presence of Wagner’s men in the CAR, as well as about what they are doing in this country. Arranging a campaign that even more "illuminates" the company's activities was clearly not their hand. It is possible that the murder of journalists is the result of competition between the Russian law enforcement agencies in the market for specific services of private security companies. Probably, we will never know whether this is true or not, but it seems that the traces of the crime lead to Russia.
