The Russian Government directly interfered in the Madagascar (Africa) elections; NOW LIBYA!
- Thread starter ☑︎#VoteDemocrat
- Start date
African leaders are c00ns what's new... they will run to daddy if it means they get to keep eating over their people. Same story since the end of colonialism has stalled real democracy and progress.
No collusion tho
Prighozhin all over this 
Trajan
Veteran
How about the French interference tho?
fukkyalifestyle
Superstar
the u.s government and the cia been doing this to every country since they started the cia
B-b-b-but America
Libya Uncovers Alleged Russian Plot to Meddle in African Votes
Samer Al-Atrush
Libyan security forces have arrested two men accused of working for a Russian troll farm seeking to influence elections in the oil exporter and other African countries.
A letter from the state prosecutor of the internationally-backed Tripoli government to a Libyan security chief said the men were involved in “securing a meeting” with Saif al-Islam al-Qaddafi, the fugitive son of the ousted dictator and a potential presidential candidate who enjoys the backing of some officials in Moscow.
Russia’s foreign ministry said it was aware of the reports and was seeking to verify them. “We haven’t received an official notification from the Libyan side regarding this matter,” the foreign ministry’s press service said.
Laptops and memory sticks found with the suspects showed that they worked for an outfit identified as Fabrika Trollei, Russian for Troll Factory, that “specializes in influencing elections that are to be held in several African states” including Libya, the letter, stamped by the attorney general’s office and obtained by Bloomberg, stated. Two Libyan government officials with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed the authenticity of the document.
Fabrika Trollei was the moniker given to a network of media and political outfits connected to Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, who’s been accused by the U.S. of funding and organizing operations to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. Prigozhin has been in contact with representatives of Saif al-Islam over his future political role, according to three people familiar with the situation.
Troll Factory
Libya had planned to hold elections this year as part of a UN-sponsored roadmap to heal the divisions that have plagued the OPEC member since the 2011 NATO-backed revolt that ended Moammar al-Qaddafi’s four-decade rule. That initiative has been upended since eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar launched in April a military assault to capture Tripoli.
Haftar himself has presidential ambitions and is fighting to seize the capital from the United Nations-backed government led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, which carried out the arrests. The offensive has descended into a proxy war with each side accusing the other of inviting foreign interference.
Haftar is supported by the U.A.E and Egypt, and had received Russian assistance, though Russia has also tried to cultivate other partners in Libya, including Saif al-Islam, as it looks to expand its role in North Africa and build its geopolitical might.
Saif al-Islam’s aides have previously said he had the clout to rally disparate Libyan tribes with a promise to restore stability. Others say his influence is over-stated in a country where the rebels and dissidents who ousted his father now vie for power.
“Russia is trying to increase its influence across Africa, it is trying to play its game. And this game is very diverse, it differs from country to a country,” said Alexander Baunov, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center. “Sometimes it is via private actors, sometimes it’s through state actors. Prigozhin is one of Russia’s proxy agents.”
Putin’s Chef
One of the Libyan officials said the detained Russians had met Saif al-Islam twice between their arrival in Libya in March and their arrest in May. They had also confessed to taking part in a campaign to influence elections in Madagascar, he said. Three Libyans, including the son of a Qaddafi-era foreign minister, had also been arrested. The men have yet to be charged.
The prosecution document, dated July 3, named one of the men detained as Maxim Shugalei, a Russian political consultant who works for the Moscow-based Foundation for the Defense of National Values and whose head until recently ran a news website linked by the U.S. to Prigozhin.
Shugalei’s employer confirmed that he and an unspecified number of other employees were detained in May by Libyan authorities. It said in a statement on its website that they didn’t intervene in the country’s electoral process and were just carrying out sociological studies. The other man detained was Samer Hassan Seifan, identified by a colleague as an Arabic speaker who was acting as their interpreter.
Alexander Prokofiev, named in the Libyan document as a third Russian man who escaped arrest, said he was working with Shugalei in Libya on research commissioned by the foundation and confirmed that they interviewed Saif al-Islam. “This is a wild and absurd situation,” he said by message. “The topic of meddling in elections that don’t exist is complete nonsense.”
Known as “Putin’s chef” for his Kremlin catering contracts, Prigozhin has previously denied any role in U.S. election meddling. He didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment via his Concord Catering company.
Shugalei is a political consultant from St. Petersburg who has experience in Africa and is known to work for Prigozhin, said Petr Bystrov, a senior member of the Russian Association of Political Consultants. “He’s a fairly highly-qualified expert,” Bystrov said by phone.
Alexander Malkevich, the head of the Foundation for the Defense of National Values, was previously editor-in-chief of USA Really news website, which has been named by the U.S. Treasury department as one of the outlets linked to Prigozhin and engaged in efforts to post content on divisive political issues. Malkevich said he had left USA Really in February and denied any link to Prigozhin.
Qaddafi Comeback
Saif al-Islam, one-time Libyan heir apparent, was held by the Zintan militia in western Libya after his capture in the 2011 war that toppled and killed his father. The rebels freed him in 2016 but he’s been in hiding ever since and his whereabouts are unknown. An aide did not immediately respond to a call for comment.
Qaddafi’s son remains wanted by The Hague-based International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity relating to a violent crackdown on demonstrations against his father’s rule and it wasn’t clear whether he’d be eligible to run for president given the ambiguity over his legal status.
(Updates throughout Russian comment, details from paragraph 3.)
Correction: Russia-Libya story
Correction: Russia-Libya story
MOSCOW (AP) — In a story July 5 about Russian arrests in Libya, The Associated Press reported erroneously that the chairman of a Russian think-tank Alexander Malkevich still edits the English-language website USA Really. Malkevich left the website earlier this year, but still maintains ties to an infamous Russian troll farm.
A corrected version of the story is below:
Russians with links to infamous troll farm arrested in Libya
A Russian think-tank with links to an infamous troll farm says that two of its employees have been detained in Libya
By NATALIYA VASILYEVA
Associated Press
MOSCOW (AP) — Two people with links to an infamous Russian troll farm have been arrested in Libya, their employer, who has been put on the U.S. sanctions list, said on Friday.
The Foundation for the Protection of Traditional Values said in a statement that its employees, including well-known spin doctor Maxim Shugaley, have been kept in custody in Libya since May. It said that it has been working behind closed doors to secure the men’s release.
The obscure think-tank did not explain the charges the men are facing but insisted that its employees did not interfere in any elections in Libya.
“The members of the research group were dealing exclusively with opinion polls and have been studying the humanitarian, cultural and political situation in the country,” the statement said. A brief report on Libyan public opinion is available on the think-tank’s website dated Monday.
Shugaley and the think-tank are connected to the infamous Russian troll farm that featured prominently in the probe by U.S. special investigator Robert Mueller into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The think-tank is chaired by Alexander Malkevich who until earlier this year also edited the English-language website USA Really which is part of a media empire reportedly run by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ally Yevgeny Prigozhin. The magnate reportedly finances the Internet Research Agency, better known as the “troll factory.”
Malkevich was put on the U.S. Treasury’s sanctions list last year for leading USA Really, which according to the U.S. Treasury Department, has been “posting content focused on divisive political issues but is generally ridden with inaccuracies.”
Mueller last year indicted Prigozhin and some of the troll farm’s employees for interfering with the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Prigozhin denies his involvement in the troll farm despite evidence indicating that his companies have been bankrolling it.
Shugaley has been reported to have links to Prigozhin in his own right.
Russian media outlet Proyekt detailed earlier this year how a group of Russian spin doctors hired by Prigozhin ran a presidential election campaign on Madagascar for one of the candidates in 2018. Shugaley was named among the Russian experts who unsuccessfully worked behind the scenes to help the candidate.
Since the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, Russia has maintained ties with both the U.N.-recognized government in the capital Tripoli as well as the self-styled Libyan National Army, led by Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter who controls much of the country’s south and east including the second-largest city Benghazi.
Libya Arrests 2 Russians Accused of Trying to Influence Vote
BloombergJuly 5, 2019
Zuma / TASS
Libyan security forces arrested two Russian nationals accused of trying to influence upcoming elections in the North African oil-exporter, according to a document obtained by Bloomberg.
The letter from state prosecutors for the internationally recognized government in Tripoli said the Russians had been involved in “securing a meeting” with Saif al-Islam al-Qaddafi, the fugitive son of the ousted Libyan dictator and a potential candidate in elections who has the backing of some officials in Moscow.
Russian officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Libya had planned to hold elections this year as part of a UN-sponsored roadmap that has been upended by an assault on the capital led by eastern commander Khalifa Haftar.
Laptops and memory sticks found with the suspects showed that they worked for a company that “specializes in influencing elections that are to be held in several African states” including Libya, the letter, stamped by the attorney general’s office, stated. Two Libyan government officials with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed the authenticity of the letter.
A third Russian national had left the country before security services raided their residence, it said. The letter, dated July 3, does not mention when and where the arrests took place but one of the officials said the men were detained in Tripoli in May.
Saif al-Islam, one-time Libyan heir apparent, was put on trial and then freed by the rebels who toppled and killed his father in 2011. He has been in hiding ever since and his whereabouts are unknown. An aide did not immediately respond to a call for comment.
fukkyalifestyle
Superstar
Don't ever quote me again you gay musty indian. Literally, no one here wants you here. I can't imagine how much fun you are in real life.B-b-b-but America
.
