(The Insider) A collection of files at The Insider’s disposal contains two versions of a document signed by Russian investigator Alexander Varapaev. The document in question concerns the Russian Investigative Committee’s decision not to open a criminal case in connection with the Feb. 16, 2024 death of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny in a Russian prison in the Russian Far North. An early version of Varapaev’s decision describes Navalny’s symptoms as follows:
The symptoms described by Varapaev are consistent with those that would have been expected had Navalny been poisoned. However, in a later (and final) version of the same decision, all mention of abdominal pain, vomiting, and convulsions had been removed.
The Insider has another important document at its disposal — an inventory of “seized objects” taken from the scene of Navalny’s death. The list includes “samples of vomit,” which the document indicates were submitted for examination. However, neither the fact of the examination nor Navalny’s vomiting were ever officially reported.
