The death of the Russian opposition figure in the Kharp penitentiary has rightly aroused a wave of indignation. But who benefits from the crime?
Lawyer, politician, anti-corruption activist and Russian troublemaker Alexei Navalny died at the age of 48 in mysterious circumstances on February 16, 2024 in the Kharp penitentiary, a prison notorious for its harsh conditions. Navalny was serving a 19-year sentence for “extremism” and organizing protests against the Kremlin regime.
Poisoned with Novichok
His wife, Yulia Navalnaya, opportunely invited to the Munich Security Conference, felt that Russian President Vladimir Putin should be “held personally responsible” and “punished” for the atrocities committed against her husband. French diplomacy could not be outdone: “He paid with his life for his resistance to a system of oppression,” declared the Quai d’Orsay.
In fact, Alexei Navalny, a fierce opponent of Putin, has never ceased to denounce the Kremlin regime. He organizes anti-government demonstrations and calls for anti-corruption reforms. But in 2013, Navalny was convicted of “embezzlement”, to prevent him from running in future elections.
Opponent Navalny continues his fight on social networks. His YouTube account is followed by millions of Internet users. In 2020, he was hospitalized in a serious condition after being poisoned with Novichok. Hospitalized in Berlin, he accused President Putin of being responsible for his poisoning.
Who benefits from the crime?
Back in Russia, he was repeatedly convicted of “extremism”. From prison, he called for opposition to Putin in the run-up to the March 15-17, 2024 presidential election.
However, Navalny’s mysterious death, and the outrage it has aroused both in Russia and around the world, suggests that it was not in the Russian president’s interest to make his opponent disappear, now and under these conditions. Putin’s image remains largely positive in Russia, and it’s hard to see how he couldn’t be re-elected. Internationally, the master of the Kremlin has renewed his image since the interview he gave to American journalist Tucker Carlson. The interview was broadcast several hundred million times on television and social networks worldwide.
So who benefits from the crime? In the geopolitical context of the moment, Navalny’s death in prison serves to distract world opinion from the serious military failures of the kyiv regime, still seeking arms and dollars to confront Russia. It also keeps the spotlight off the heinous genocide of the Gazan people by the Israeli army.
Alexei Navalny’s death is a godsend for some. Not so for others.
Look at Alexei Navalny, the freedom fighter Ursula von der Leyen said demanded $10-20 million from an MI6 officer to orchestrate a coup in Russia.
That’s why he was thrown in prison.
The United States has lost a very important asset, pic.twitter.com/bTmulzsG8Y— Babin Frank (@BabinFrank1) February 18, 2024