Alexeï Navalny, main opponent of the Russian regime, died in a prison in the Arctic Circle last Friday. The family of the deceased denounces “lies” from Russia and has still not been able to access the remains of the body.
The essential
- Alexeï Navalny, the main Russian opponent of Vladimir Putin, died Friday February 16 in a prison located in the Polar Circle, according to information from the Russian prison services. The causes of death are not known, but the conditions of his detention had been criticized for several months by his supporters and lawyers.
- Access to the body of Alexeï Navalny was once again refused to the family this Monday morning and the investigation was prolonged according to the Kremlin. The family speaks of lies from Russia to “buy time.
- Alexeï Navalny’s wife meets the foreign ministers of the European Union this Monday.
- According to Russian opposition media, his body is in a hospital in Siberia. He reportedly has bruises from seizures. No autopsy has yet been carried out.
- More than 400 people have been arrested in Russia, alongside tributes to Navalny. 150 of them were condemned for having gathered to honor his memory.
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10:22 – “Putin killed Navalny”
Invited on the LCI set this Monday February 19, 2024, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Lev Ponomarev “is convinced that it was Putin who killed Navalny”. “Putin is a terrorist, who took Navalny hostage. We all understand that it was Putin who killed Navanly,” he concluded.
10:13 – Tribute to Navalny: 150 people sentenced in Russia for gathering
This weekend, Russian courts sentenced around 150 people to prison for violating local legislation governing protests. The sentences handed down reach 14 years in prison, according to decisions made public by the press service of the St. Petersburg courts, Saturday and Sunday.
10:05 – Navalny’s wife to EU foreign ministers
This Monday, Navalny’s wife meets the foreign ministers of the European Union in Brussels. “On Monday, I will welcome Loulia Navalnaïa to the EU Foreign Affairs Council” indicated Sunday evening, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell. “EU ministers will send a strong message of support to the freedom fighters in Russia and honor the memory of Alexei Navalny,” he concluded.
09:53 – The silence of Vladimir Putin
If Vladimir Putin was “informed” of the death of his number one opponent last Friday according to the Kremlin spokesperson, the latter has not planned the slightest public statement on the subject. An unbearable silence for Navalny’s family, especially since the Russian president has since congratulated the country’s military for their victory at Adviïvka, in eastern Ukraine. For Navalny’s widow, “there will be no impunity” for “those who work with Putin, his entourage, his relatives, his friends (…) they will be sanctioned for what they did to our country, to my family, to my husband,” she declared at the Munich Security Conference.
09:40 – “They lie, gain time and don’t even hide it”
Russian writer Kira Iarmich reports that “the Investigative Committee has informed his mother and lawyers that the investigation into Navalny’s death has been extended. They do not say how long it will take. The cause of death is still unknown.” For her, the Russians “lie, gain time and don’t even hide it.”
09:33 – Access to the remains of the body denied to the family for the third time
This Monday morning, access to the remains of Alexeï Navalny’s body was refused to the family for the third time since his death, last Friday February 16. The deceased’s mother and her lawyers arrived at the morgue early in the morning and were not allowed entry. “When we asked the staff if Alexei’s body was there, they did not answer,” says Russian spokesperson and writer Kira Iarmich on X.
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He was the Kremlin’s number one enemy. The Russian opponent of Vladimir Putin, Alexei Navalny, died in prison this Friday, February 16, 2024. The death of the man who was the main opponent of the President of Russia was confirmed by the Russian Prison Administration (FSIN). According to these services, the 47-year-old man held in a penitentiary center located in the Polar Circle “felt unwell after a walk” before dying despite the intervention of medical services, specifies the FSIN of the Arctic region of Iamal in a statement.
“All the necessary resuscitation measures were carried out but did not give a positive result. The emergency doctors noted the death of the patient. The causes of death are being established”, also specifies the press release from the services penitentiaries who assure that the man had not reported any health problems. A procedural investigation was opened after the death of Alexei Navalny, the Russian Investigative Committee said. Vladimir Putin was informed of the death of Alexei Navalny, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov cited by the Russian news agency TASS. On the other hand, the opponent’s spokesperson indicated that she had not had confirmation of the death. She assures X that “Alexeï Navalny’s lawyer is flying to Kharp. As soon as we have information, we will communicate it”.
Russian regime held responsible for death of Alexei Navalny
Several heads of state reacted to the announcement of the death and some blame Russian power, even Vladimir Putin, for the death of Alexeï Navalny. The Russian government “bears a heavy responsibility” for this death according to Norwegian diplomacy. The President of Latvia declared that Alexeï Navalny “has just been brutally assassinated by the Kremlin”. In France, the first reaction is that of Stéphane Séjourné, Minister of Foreign Affairs, according to whom the Russian opponent “paid with his life for his resistance to a system of oppression”.
Alexei Navalny paid with his life for his resistance to a system of oppression.
His death in a penal colony reminds us of the reality of Vladimir Putin’s regime.
To his family, his loved ones and the Russian people, France presents its condolences.
— Stéphane Séjourné (@steph_sejourne) February 16, 2024
The causes of Alexeï Navalny’s death are not yet known, but several reactions from the Russian opponent’s supporters also accuse the Kremlin of having accelerated the politician’s death. His supporters have assured for several months that the Russian authorities were seeking to further isolate the political opponent in the run-up to the presidential election scheduled for March 2024. During his latest interventions on social networks, Alexeï Navalny had called for demonstrations everywhere in Russia during the presidential election, in particular by going to the polling stations at noon: “I like the idea that those who vote against Putin go to the polls at the same time, at noon. Noon against Putin” , he declared on.
Difficult detention conditions
Alexei Navalny was serving a 19-year prison sentence in an Arctic penal colony after being convicted of “extremism” in 2021. The man was arrested in January 2021 during his return from Russia after uconvalesced in Germany for a poisoning he blamed in the Kremlin. Since then, he has alternated stays in solitary confinement with strict conditions of detention. He had been transferred from the penal colony in the Vladimir region, located 250 kilometers east of Moscow, to where he was in the Arctic at the end of December. The media had little news and were unaware of the state of health of Vladimir Putin’s main opponent. Relatives of the activist and politician, such as Olga Prokopieva, denounced “very difficult conditions of detention where he cannot receive a letter, no family visits”. “It’s very complicated for his lawyers to see him. In addition, the climatic conditions in this region are very harsh, and will cause an additional blow to his morale,” she added, as reported franceinfo.