Alexei Navalny died in prison. The announcement comes from the regional department of the federal penitentiary service. The Russian opponent, imprisoned in penal colony no. 3 of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, in the Arctic Circle, would have been struck by an illness.
Navalny is dead: announcement by the Federal Penitentiary Service
“On February 16 this year, in correctional colony no. 3, prisoner Navalny AA felt ill after a walk, losing consciousness almost immediately. Medical workers from the institute immediately arrived and an emergency medical team was called,” the statement said.
According to the Russian state agency Tass all necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, but they did not give positive results. The emergency room doctors confirmed the death of the condemned man. The causes of death are being ascertained” which according to state media should be an embolism.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov always told Tass that Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed of the death in prison of Alexei Navalny. “The causes of death will be ascertained by doctors. The Federal Penitentiary Service is verifying and investigating” the incident, added Peskov, underlining that “a special indication from the Kremlin in this regard is not needed”.
Navalny's spokesperson: "We have no confirmation"
"We don't have any confirmation yet. Alexey's lawyer is currently traveling to Kharp. As soon as we have information, we will report it,” Navalny spokeswoman Kyra Yarmish wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
“As soon as we have more information on his death, we will disclose it,” added the spokeswoman, recalling that on Wednesday, Navalny had been locked up in a punishment cell, for the 27th time since August 2022. A few days earlier, another ten-day isolation period had ended. In total, Navalny spent 308 days in isolation since the beginning of his detention, in January 2021, a record also for the Russian penitentiary system..
“We have no reason to believe Russian state propaganda, but if it is true then we cannot say that 'Navalny is dead but that 'Putin killed Navalny', but I don't trust them even a little,” said one of the closest collaborators of the Russian opponent, Leonid Volkov.
The words of Navalny's wife
In the afternoon, faced with applause and emotion from the audience, Alexei Navalny's wife, Yulia Borisovna, spoke before the Munich Security Conference.
Borisovna was among the guests, but no one thought that she would speak after what happened. And instead the woman appeared on the podium with a firm and proud voice: “I don't know whether I should believe this horrible news or not. We cannot believe Putin and his government, because they lie all the time. There are many lies circulating in Russia. But if this news is true, then I want Putin, his acolytes, his friends, his government to know that will be held responsible for what they have done to our country, to my family and to my husband. That day will come soon,” she said, receiving long applause from those present.
“I was thinking what to do – he explained – Whether to stay here or go back to my children, then I imagined that what Alexej would have done and I'm sure he would have stayed“. Finally an appeal: "We must all fight together against this evil, this horrible regime in Russia and Putin must be held personally responsible for all the atrocities committed in our country in recent years."
Navalny's story
Navalny, 47, had been detained since January 2021 in the Arctic prison colony where he was serving a sentence of 19 years for having, according to the accusations (always denied by the person concerned), founded and financed activities and organizations that the Russian authorities defined as "extremist". The ECHR, some international human rights organizations, some leaders of Western countries as well as numerous international media have defined Navalny's imprisonment as politically motivated. Up until that moment it had in fact been the Vladimir Putin's most famous opponent, suffering constant harassment for this. He was head of the Russia of the Future party and president of the Democratic Coalition, a group previously co-chaired with Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated in February 2015.
The first sentence against him, 5 years in prison, came in July 2013. The charges? Misappropriation of state assets of the public company Kirovles. The documents were never made public. From 2011 to 2018 he was sentenced to administrative arrest ten more times.
In 2020 he risked dying from a poisoning attempt which, according to many reconstructions, had been carried out by the Russian secret services. He was treated in Germany, but then decided to return to Russia where he was immediately arrested for violating his parole. He had not shown up at the police station on the dates he was supposed to. In those days, Navalny was in hospital fighting for his life.
In March 2022 he was sentenced to 9 years for aggravated fraud. Two months later he was charged with creating “an extremist community”. The accusations against him, according to several experts and commentators, were "specious".
The reactions
“The Government will always be at the side of those who fight for democracy, for freedom of thought and for the inalienable rights of every human being. I am very struck by the death of Alexey Navalny after years of persecution in prison, we sympathize with his family and the Russian people", the Foreign Minister wrote on Antonio Tajani.
“Navalny's death in a Russian prison is shocking. Honor to the most consistent opponent of the Putin regime. His courage in the fight for freedom remains an example for all", commented the European Commissioner for Economy, Paul Gentiloni.
“Deeply disturbed and saddened by the news of the death of Alexei Navalny. Putin fears nothing other than dissent from his own people. A sad reminder of what Putin and his regime represent. Let us unite in our fight to safeguard the freedom and security of those who dare to oppose autocracy,” said the President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
“Navalny was killed” and Putin will have to “account for his crimes,” the Ukrainian president said Volodymyr Zelensky, at a press conference in Berlin. “Putin always kills. He is the personification of this war and he will not stop. We can only stop it together,” Zelensky added.
The comment from the President of the European Council was also harsh Charles Michel who wrote on X: “The EU holds the Russian regime solely responsible for this tragic death”.
British Prime Minister Rishi sunak speaks of “terrible news”. “He paid for his courage with his life,” said the German Prime Minister Olaf Sholz.
The spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, condemned what he called an “instant” reaction of the leaders of the NATO countries to the death in prison of the opponent Aleksei Navalny. “We don't have the results of the forensic examination yet, but the West's conclusions (that the Russian authorities are responsible for the politician's death) are already ready,” Zakharova wrote on Telegram.
(Last update: 16.40pm on Friday 16 February).
