The strange circumstances in which the Russian opponent Alexei Navalny died this Friday in the prison where he was serving his sentence, in Siberia, have raised suspicions that the event was the responsibility of the Kremlin due to the criticism that the deceased had launched against the policies of the Government of Vladimir Putin.
This hypothesis, raised by a large part of the international community, has gained strength after his last living images came to light, recordings that were made this Thursday in a video conference with the court.. In them, Navalni is seen, one day before dying, in good condition and even using a relaxed tone.
From prison, the prisoner complained about the repeated fines imposed on him and, in a humorous way, asked the judge to send him money because “thanks to his decisions” he was being fined: “Your honor, I will send you my account number staff so he can use his huge judge's salary to feed my account because I'm running out of money.
The official version indicates that the prisoner “felt bad” and “lost consciousness”, after which he ended up dying.. However, nothing seems to indicate that his health was seriously affected.. In fact, his lawyer last saw him on Wednesday and did not detect that he was in any discomfort.
In addition, the mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, has also highlighted that she saw her son four days before he died and that he did not show any symptoms of being unwell. I don't want to hear any condolences. We saw him in prison on February 12 at a meeting. “He was alive, healthy and happy,” he shared on Facebook, according to the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta.
For her part, the wife of the opposition leader, Yulia Navalnaya, assured this Friday that the Executive “constantly lies”: “This is terrible news that we receive, news that we only receive from official media.. For many years (…) we cannot believe either Putin or his Government.”
“But if this is true, I would like Putin and everyone around him to know that they will be punished for what they have done to our country, my family and my husband (…). They will be brought to justice and that day will come soon,” Navalnaya added in a brief statement at the Security Conference in Munich, where she received support in the form of applause from attendees.
Navalnaya has made a standing appeal to the international community and all people in the world to ask for unity in the fight against the “evil” that Putin represents.. “We must unite and fight this evil. We must fight this horrible regime in Russia. “This regime and Vladimir Putin must be held personally responsible for all the atrocities they have committed in our country in recent years.”
Official version
The only official information so far has come from the penitentiary services system. According to his version, Nalvani died “suddenly” after feeling unwell and after taking a walk through the IK-3 prison, better known as 'The Polar Wolf' for its harsh conditions and located 60 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, in the town of Jarp (Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District) where he was serving his sentence.
“The necessary resuscitation procedures were performed, which did not give any results.”. Emergency doctors confirmed the death of the condemned man. The causes of death are being established,” says the official statement from the prison, where thermometers this Friday marked more than 20 degrees below zero.
Emergency medical teams immediately responded to the call from the prison and tried to revive him “for more than half an hour,” according to hospital services in the town of Labitnangui, located in the Arctic Circle. “However, the patient died,” they told the Interfax agency.
Subsequently, the penitentiary services announced the dispatch of a commission of prison officials and doctors from their central apparatus in Moscow to clarify the causes and circumstances surrounding the death of the inmate.
The international community accuses the Kremlin
The international community has reacted this Friday with indignation and pain at the death of the Russian opponent Alexei Navalni and has directly targeted President Vladimir Putin.. In this way, several leaders have lamented the death of the opponent and have pointed to the “regime” of the Russian president as ultimately responsible for his death.
“If the information about Navalny's death is true, and I have no reason to doubt it, of course the Russian authorities are going to tell their own story. But make no mistake, Putin is responsible,” said US President Joe Biden at a press conference from the White House in Washington.. For Biden, what has happened to Navalny “is further proof of Putin's brutality”. “We don't know what happened, but there is no doubt that Navalny's death was a consequence of everything he has done,” added the American president.
The EU has also reacted to the news and has described Navalny's death as a “somber reminder” of what Putin is all about.. This was stated by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who stated that Putin “fears nothing as much as the dissent of his own people”, and was “deeply shocked and saddened” by the death. of the opponent. The head of community diplomacy, Josep Borrell, has stated that Navalny's death is the “exclusive responsibility” of Putin.
The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, whose country has been fighting a war for two years after being invaded by Russia, has also stated that Navalny “has obviously been assassinated” because, in his opinion, Putin does not care who dies with such to stay in power. “It is very regrettable that Alexei Navalny has died in a Russian prison. For me it is obvious: he was murdered,” Zelensky said at a press conference.
For its part, the United Nations Office for Human Rights has expressed its dismay and has called on Russia to “end the persecution of politicians, human rights defenders and journalists.”. “We are horrified by the news,” office spokeswoman Liz Throssell said in a statement. Likewise, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has stressed that Russia has “very serious questions to answer” about Navalni's death.. “All the facts must be established and Russia has serious questions to answer,” he said.
Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, the United Kingdom and the Baltic countries, among others, have also attacked Putin. However, the Kremlin has called the leaders' statements “angry” and “inadmissible,” stressing that there are still “no statements from doctors or information from forensics and penitentiary services.”
“There is no information on the cause of death.. And there are statements of this type. Obviously, they are absolutely rabid. We consider such statements absolutely unacceptable,” Peskov told the media, according to the Russian agency TASS.
