Russia rejected Western accusations this Friday “totally unacceptable” on the death of Alexei Navalny amid strong demands for explanations from the Kremlin on the sudden death of Vladimir Putin’s fiercest opponent. “Obviously he was killed,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said bluntly.
The wife of the opposition leader, Yulia Naválnaya, assured that Putin and his entourage “They will be brought to justice and that day will come soon.”
While questions about Nalvany’s death were repeated in Russia, from the White House to NATO, this Friday the Moscow authorities warned the population not to take to the streets to protest, a few hours after the announcement of the death of the well-known opponent.
“Organizing or holding unauthorized demonstrations, calling them and participating in them is an administrative crime,” the Moscow prosecutor’s office warned in a statement.
March in Belgrade: “Putin is a murderer”. Photo: EFE A massive demonstration in Moscow
The prosecutor’s office noted that “it considers it necessary to warn about violation of the law”, referring to several online calls to organize “a mass demonstration in the center of Moscow”.
The prison service of the Arctic Yamal region announced on Friday the death of Navalny, 47, the Kremlin’s most prominent critic, who was serving a 19-year sentence after being found guilty of “extremism”, fraud and other charges he considered “politics.”
Putin in trouble?
The sudden death in prison of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, confirmed by the prison services, puts the head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, who many years ago declared war on the democratic opposition.
Navalny’s death caught the Russian leader by surprise in the middle of an election working trip to the city of Chelyabinsk, where He did not comment on the matter.
Unexpected death
The penitentiary services explained that on Friday, after taking a walk in the IK-3 penitentiary of the Arctic city of Jarp (Yamolo-Nenets autonomous district), where this Friday the thermometers showed more than 20 degrees below zero, The opposition politician “felt ill” and “lost consciousness”.
Emergency medical teams immediately responded to the prison call and attempted to revive him. “for more than half an hour”, This was reported by the hospital services of the city 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 the central apparatus of Moscow to clarify the causes and circumstances of the death of the most famous prisoner in this country.
Navalni’s health had already caused great concern when the opponent went on a hunger strike between March and April 2021 to protest against the refusal to be treated by doctors outside the prison services, weeks in which he had lost a lot of weight.
Punishment cells and arctic cold
As in the times of the Soviet GULAGs or the Tsarist katorgas, Navalny was transferred in December from a prison to less than 200 kilometers from Moscow in another prison in the Arctic, on the other side of the Ural mountain range.
The reason, according to the opposition, was his decision to launch a national campaign against Putin’s re-election in the presidential elections in March, shortly after registering his candidacy to stay another six years in the Kremlin.
Transfer to another prison, commonly known as “etapirovanie”, is a process in which the prisoner is held incommunicado for weekswhat does it mean brutal physical and psychological exhaustion for the prisoner, according to human rights organizations.
His destination, a prison named after “Polar Wolf”, is believed to be oneone of the prisons furthest from civilization in all of Russiaas it is located almost 2,000 kilometers from Moscow or about 45 hours by train from the Russian capital.
“Alexei Navalny was subjected to torment and torture for three years. As Navalny’s doctor told me: the body cannot bear it,” wrote Dmitri Muratov, the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner.
The journalist of ‘Nóvaya Gazeta’ denounced the prison sentence of the opposition leader “they added murder” and he was convinced that death “It is a direct consequence” of his 27 stays “in punishment cells” for different infractions.
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.