The Russian Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny is dead. This was announced by the prison administration, as Russian media reports. The 47-year-old served years of imprisonment in a penal colony.
According to the judiciary, the imprisoned Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny is dead. The Kremlin critic died in a penal colony in the Russian polar region, as the prison administration announced.
The 47-year-old “felt unwell” after a walk and “lost consciousness almost immediately,” it said. Medical personnel were called, but they were unable to revive Navalny. The cause of death is currently being determined.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Vladimir Putin had been informed. He did not give any further details. Navalny’s team said it had not yet received any confirmation of the opposition figure’s death. His lawyer Leonid Solovyov told the Kremlin-critical newspaper Novaya Gazeta: “I don’t comment at all on the decision of Alexei Navalny’s family.”
EU blames Russia
Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the death of the opposition politician depressing. It was very brave that Navalny went back to Russia. Now he has “paid for this courage with his life,” said Scholz in Berlin. We now know exactly what kind of regime is in power in Moscow. Russia is “no longer a democracy.”
The European Union blamed the “Russian regime” for Navalny’s death. He made “the ultimate sacrifice for his ideals,” said EU Council President Charles Michel on the online service X. “The EU considers the Russian regime to be solely responsible for this tragic death.”
Years in prison for Navalny
Navalny was sentenced to years in prison for alleged extremism, among other things. Internationally, however, the politician, who narrowly survived an assassination attempt with the nerve agent Novichok in 2020, is classified as a political prisoner. Human rights organizations have long called for Navalny’s release.
After being treated in Germany for the consequences of the poison attack, Navalny returned to Russia on January 17, 2021 and was arrested at the airport.
Video from recent performance
Shortly after news of Navalny’s death, independent Russian media published a video purporting to show the opposition figure during a court hearing on Thursday. Just one day before his death, Navalny appeared “happy, healthy and cheerful” given the circumstances, journalists from the “Sota” channel wrote on Telegram. They also showed a soundless clip that was around 30 seconds long and showed Navalny speaking and smiling. He was therefore connected to the courtroom via video link.
Navalny repeatedly complained about health problems and harassment in the prison camp. At the numerous court appearances that continued after his incarceration, you could see the strain on him, but he always appeared cheerfully and demonstratively.
The opposition member regularly filed lawsuits against the prison system for violating his rights. Last but not least, he used the court appearances to criticize Putin’s authoritarian system and Moscow’s war against Ukraine. Most recently, Navalny was no longer involved in the negotiations when the election campaign began.
Lawsuits against the prison system
Last December, the imprisoned politician disappeared for several weeks. It later emerged that the justice system had moved him from the European part of Russia to a prison camp in the far north of Siberia. Navalny suspected that he should be as isolated as possible there before the upcoming presidential election in March.
The USA, the EU and the federal government have repeatedly expressed concern in recent weeks and called on the Russian leadership to provide information about Navalny’s whereabouts. However, Russia rejected this as interference in its internal affairs. The Kremlin also said it could not concern itself with the fate of prisoners in Russia.
On the occasion of the death of Alexei Navalny, the first broadcasts a focal point – at 8:15 p.m. directly after the tagesschau.