Jailed Russian Opposition Politician and Putin Critic Alexei Navalny Dies At 47
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – The jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny – a prominent vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin – has died, prison officials said Friday.
Navalny “fell sick” during a walk, fainted, and died quickly after that, the prison service added.
In a statement published on its website, the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District said that Navalny “felt unwell” after a walk on Friday and “almost immediately lost consciousness.”
It stressed that medical staff had been called but that they were unable to resuscitate Navalny.
It said the reason for his death was being established.
However, the sudden death of the 47-year-old anti-corruption crusader raised questions as it came amid a reported Kremlin crackdown on dissent and questions about the circumstances in Russian prisons.
“The medical staff of the institution arrived immediately, and an ambulance team was called,” the prison service explained.
RESUSCITATION MEASURES
“All necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, which did not yield positive results. Doctors of the ambulance stated the death of the convict. The causes of death are being established,” it stressed.
The Kremlin said Russian President Putin had been informed of Navalny’s death.
Navalny’s spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, said she had no information about his death but added that “Alexei’s lawyer is now flying to [the prison facility in] Kharp. As soon as we have some information, we will report it,” she said.
In late December, Yarmysh said Navalny was at the “Polar Wolf” colony, officially known as the IK-3 penal colony, about 1,900 km (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow.
Navalny later said on social media service X, formerly Twitter, that he was “fine” despite a “pretty exhausting” transfer that took 20 days.
Navalny will be remembered for publicly calling out graft at the top of the Kremlin hierarchy.
He is the founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) and was one of the leaders of the antigovernment protests in 2011-2013, culminating in his running for mayor of Moscow in 2013.
PUTIN ‘MADMAN’
Navalny described Russian President Putin as a “madman” and said the ruling party in Russia was full of “crooks and thieves.”
Over the years, Navalny faced physical attacks, repeated arrests, investigations, and criminal proceedings, which he claims to be politically motivated.
Most notably, he survived an assassination attempt in 2020 that involved the nerve agent Novichok.
After the Novichok poisoning, Russian officials agreed to fly comatose Navalny out to Germany for treatment, with Navalny waking up and eventually recovering in Berlin’s Charite hospital.
However, with Navalny staying in Germany for several months after his release from the hospital, Russian authorities warned he violated probation terms of an earlier court case and threatened to arrest him upon return.
Despite the warning, Navalny chose to return to Moscow in January 2021.
Russian authorities detained him at the airport, and the politician has been behind bars ever since.
‘PAROLE VIOLATION’
While serving a sentence for the parole violation, he was sentenced to nine years for embezzlement and contempt of court.
Another court ruling in August this year saw his prison term prolonged to 19 years over additional charges, including extremism.
German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach was among the first to pay tribute to Navalny. “Today, we no longer talk about heroes, but for me, Navalny was a hero,” said Lauterbach.
“Through his resistance, he made it clear to the world early on that Putin is a ruthless criminal in office. His warning should have been heeded much earlier. Rest in peace.”
His death comes at a time when Putin launched a presidential campaign for his fifth term in office.
Critics noticed that he is already the longest-serving Russian leader since Joseph Stalin and could surpass him if he runs again for office in 2030. That could be a possibility since he had the constitutional rules on term limits rewritten in 2020.
Putin currently oversees Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in which hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and injured on both sides, making it Europe’s bloodiest armed conflict since the Second World War.
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