For those who suffered the consequences of Yalta’s division of Europe, the Helsinki Final Act brought grounds for optimism. Today, as Russia’s regressive war on Ukraine reopens old conflicts, it stands as a monument to European modernity.
The truth about MH17
An interview with Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins
In this episode of the Eurozine podcast ‘Gagarin’, we talk to Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins about the ongoing MH17 trial and the recent OPCW report on the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons in Syria. Higgins describes how disinformation works in both cases, who is behind it and what motivates them, and how Bellingcat remains objective in a hyper-partisan media field.
At the beginning of June, Eurozine editor Simon Garnett interviewed Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins about the ongoing trial in Amsterdam of four men charged with murder in connection with the shooting down of MH17 . Higgins also talked about a recent report of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons on chemical weapons attacks at Al Lataminah, northern Syria, in 2017. We were particularly interested in hearing about Higgins’s experience with pro-Russian and pro-Syrian disinformation, and how Bellingcat navigates this hyper-partisan online terrain. The interview was published in Eurozine on 4 June 2020.
Gagarin, the Eurozine podcast is a series of conversations with authors and editors from throughout Europe and beyond. Our 90+ partners are journals, magazines and associates from Belgium to Belarus, from Norway to Bulgaria, publishing literature and analyzing politics, reflecting on culture and bringing diverse voices to a joint conversation.
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Published 19 August 2020
Original in English
First published by Eurozine
© Eliot Higgins / Eurozine
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