The statement released by the Metropolitan Police today on behalf of Yulia Skripal has been treated with extreme suspicion by social media users

It contains a number of ‘curiosities’ that are fuelling public distrust among those who doubt its authenticity

While not probative, these curiosities mean that Russian claims that Ms Skripal is under duress or being held against her will are harder to dismiss

The statement raises further concerns, at best, about the competence of the government’s handling of information around the Salisbury incident and its aftermath – and will intensify suspicions that all might not be as presented

Yulia Skripal’s statement via the Metropolitan Police has raised a number of inconsistencies with her previous comments and behaviour – and has certainly rung false with both experienced observers and social media users.

Curiosity #1 – Sergei’s condition

Ms Skripal’s statement includes a comment about her father’s health that is at odds with her more naturalistic discussion with her cousin Viktoria. According to the Met, she said:

I have left my father in their care, and he is still seriously ill. I too am still suffering with the effects of the nerve agent used against us.

Ms Skripal, speaking a week ago when the UK authorities had not yet even revealed that he was out of critical condition – that revelation came after the release of the recording of her telephone call with Viktoria – said that her father’s condition was ‘ok’ and suggested the effects of the poison had not been too serious:

Everything’s ok, he’s resting now, he’s sleeping. Everyone’s health is ok. No one has had any irreversible harm.

Curiosity #2 – cousin Viktoria’s visit

When Yulia Skripal was first – as far as we know – out of critical condition, her first instinct was to get a phone and call her cousin Viktoria, as we’ve seen above.

Sounding strong, she tells her cousin that she doesn’t think Viktoria, or anyone else, will get a visa to come and see her – but she gives no indication that she doesn’t want her cousin to visit.

But in her Met statement today, she not only asks her cousin not to visit – but not even to try to contact her.

Is such a complete change of heart credible, absent any duress or pressure?

Especially when Ms Skripal, in her first conversation with the outside world that we know about, was already cynical enough about her situation to tell her cousin:

Nobody’s getting a visa [to come and visit me].

Curiosity #3 – ‘access to friends and family’

The statement says that Ms Skripal has access to her friends and family – yet, as noted, the family she opted to reach out to by phone was her cousin Yulia. Which are the friends and family to whom access now is apparently not only available but also so sufficient that she basically forbids her cousin from even trying to contact her?

Curiosity #4 – language

Ms Skripal’s complete statement is reproduced below. Note the sections in bold text – and the sections in bold italics:

I was discharged from Salisbury District Hospital on the 9th April 2018. I was treated there with obvious clinical expertise and with such kindness, that I have found I missed the staff immediately. I have left my father in their care, and he is still seriously ill. I too am still suffering with the effects of the nerve agent used against us. I find myself in a totally different life than the ordinary one I left just over a month ago, and I am seeking to come to terms with my prospects, whilst also recovering from this attack on me. I have specially trained officers available to me, who are helping to take care of me and to explain the investigative processes that are being undertaken. I have access to friends and family, and I have been made aware of my specific contacts at the Russian Embassy who have kindly offered me their assistance in any way they can. At the moment I do not wish to avail myself of their services, but, if I change my mind I know how to contact them. Most importantly, I am safe and feeling better as time goes by, but I am not yet strong enough to give a full interview to the media, as I one day hope to do. Until that time, I want to stress that no one speaks for me, or for my father, but ourselves. I thank my cousin Viktoria for her concern for us, but ask that she does not visit me or try to contact me for the time being. Her opinions and assertions are not mine and they are not my father’s. For the moment I do not wish to speak to the press or the media, and ask for their understanding and patience whilst I try to come to terms with my current situation.

The bold sections are language that may be surprising from a non-English-speaker speaking in her own natural voice. Few English-speakers would think of ‘I do not wish to avail myself of their services‘ – most would say simply ‘I don’t want/need their help at the moment’.

It sounds like ‘officialese’ – as does :”her opinions and assertions are not mine and they are not my father’s“. ‘She doesn’t speak for us’ or something similar would sound natural – the words provided via the Met sound like an inserted or dictated statement you might expect from an official eager to gain some distance from that troublesome recorded phone-call.

The bold italic sections bear a strong resemblance to the statement released on behalf of DS Nick Bailey, the police officer who was also injured by the Salisbury poison.

The appreciative words about the hospital staff might be expected, as might the request for privacy – although more realistically speaking, an interview as soon as capable would allow the news agenda to move on so that peace and privacy follow naturally.

But Ms Skripal’s comment about a different life closely echoes that of DS Bailey:

Yulia: “I find myself in a totally different life than the ordinary one I left just over a month ago, and I am seeking to come to terms with my prospects, whilst also recovering from this attack on me.”

Bailey: “I recognise that ‘normal’ life for me will probably never be the same – and Sarah and I now need to focus on finding a new normal for us and for our children.”

The language in the statement and its ‘curiosities’ also occurred to former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray, who described it as “strangulated officialdom speak” and observed that the only people to allow us to hear Yulia Skripal actually speak are the Russians.

The statement says that Ms Skripal is still suffering “effects of the nerve agent”, rather than the ‘poison’, ‘toxin’, the ‘substance’ or some other more vague term. Justified or not, this gives the impression of coaching to match an official narrative.

Finally, the statement starts by providing us with a date on which Yulia Skripal was discharged from Salisbury hospital. Would any one of us start a statement with a date, as opposed to saying ‘on Monday’ or ‘the day before yesterday’ or something similar?

Conclusion:

None of these things are conclusive proof that Yulia Skripal is under duress or that the statement released in her name is not genuine or has been substantially influenced by the UK authorities.

But equally, none of them do anything to defuse such suspicions – or to damage the credibility of Russian claims that she is under duress or is being prevented from the consular/embassy access to which she is entitled as a Russian citizen.

If the statement does convey the genuine wishes and sentiments of Yulia Skripal, the excessive secrecy and caution with which the authorities are behaving represent extraordinarily bad perception management on the part of the authorities.

Transparency would have defused suspicion and its absence plays into the hands of the Russian government in a way that can justifiably be called incompetent – and which leaves space for worse concerns and suspicions to persist.

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