Even if the death of Alexei Navalny as reported by Russian officials turns out to be true, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his associates will not go “unpunished,” says the Kremlin critic's wife Yulia. said.
Russian prison authorities earlier announced that Navalny died on Friday in an Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence. The 47-year-old was one of Putin's fiercest enemies, campaigning against official corruption and staging large-scale anti-Kremlin protests.
Navrany's team said it had not yet received direct confirmation of his death and only confirmed a general announcement by regional judicial authorities.
Yulia Navalnaya spoke Friday at the Munich Security Conference, which had been scheduled before news of her husband's death broke, and called for the international community to come together to fight Russia's “terrible regime.”
In her speech, she expressed some doubts about the veracity of the news of her husband's death.
Yulia Navalnaya said: “I don't know whether to believe the terrible news that I receive only from Russian state intelligence sources.”
“We cannot trust President Putin and his government,” she added. “They always lie.”
But she called on the international community to “unite and fight evil” and said Putin and his supporters would soon be held accountable.
Earlier, Mr Navalny's mother Lyudmila Navalnaya said that her son was “alive, healthy and happy” when she last saw him on February 12, Russia's Novaya Gazeta newspaper reported. ” he said.
“I don't want to hear any condolences. We saw him in prison. [February] On the 12th, during a meeting. He was alive, healthy and happy,” Navalnaya's mother said in a Facebook post, the paper said.
Russian state media said Navalny addressed a court via video link on Thursday in his last public appearance before his death was reported.
The district court in the city of Vladimir, east of Moscow, said Navalny did not complain about his health and “actively spoke out and presented arguments in defense of his position.” told the district court.
Separately, Navalny's German lawyer Nikolaos Gazeas told the daily Körner Stadt-Anzeiger that he was stunned by the news of Navalny's death after watching footage of him taking part in a court hearing. He said.
“He looked as energetic and strong as always,” he said, adding that a Russian colleague visited Navalny on Wednesday and another colleague is currently in prison to learn more about the circumstances of Navalny's death. He added that he was on his way.
“Mr. Navalny has become immortal.”
Meanwhile, other Putin opponents also reacted strongly to the news of Navalny's death.
“There is nothing more the dictator can do against Navalny. Navalny is dead and immortal,” said Boris Akunin, a prominent Russian writer living in self-imposed exile in Europe.
“I also believe that a murdered Alexei Navalny would pose a greater threat to the dictator than a living one. Perhaps to drown out the voices of protest, [Putin] They will launch terrorist activities within the country,” he told AFP.
Russian Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov described Navalny's death as “murder”.
“Mr. Alexei Navalny was subjected to continuous torture for three years. As Mr. Navalny's doctor told me, “the body cannot withstand such things.'' “Murder has been added to Alexei Navalny's sentence,” he was quoted as saying by Novaya Gazeta.
Exiled Russian opposition politician Dmitry Gudkov tweeted on social media: “Alexei's death is a murder. Organized by President Putin…Even if Alexei died of 'natural' causes, it would be his poisoning and death in prison.” This is due to further torture. ”
Bill Browder, a British-American businessman who was one of Russia's biggest foreign investors before becoming a fierce critic of the regime, wrote in X that “Putin assassinated Navalny…Navalny became Putin's I assassinated him because he had the courage to stand up to me.” He did so because Mr. Navalny offered the Russian people an alternative to kleptocracy and repression. ”
