Mother: “He was healthy when I visited him in prison four days before his death.”
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny (47) appears not to have been mentally and physically ill to the point where he was able to make a characteristic sarcastic joke despite his haggard expression in his last video taken the day before his death.
According to major Western media such as CNN and Reuters on the 17th (local time), in the last video filmed on the 15th, the day before his death, Navalny, wearing a black prison uniform, did not lose his smile despite his unique sarcastic tone.
Navalny was seen in a video conferencing with a judge in the western city of Vladimir, 600 km away, via video from IK-3 prison, located in the village of Harp, Siberia, in the northernmost part of Russia.
Russia’s Third Prison, which was built in the 1960s as part of a former Soviet forced labor camp facility, is so notorious for its harshness that it is even nicknamed the ‘Arctic Wolf Penal Camp.’ Violent criminals are housed there and must endure the cold of around -30 degrees Celsius during the winter.
Navalny smiled sarcastically from behind the bars, telling the judge across the video, “Please replenish my (prisoner) account because I receive a huge salary as a federal judge.”
Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila (69), also said that her son had shown no signs of illness until recently. Her mother posted on Facebook on the evening of the 16th after hearing the news of her son’s death, “I saw him in prison on February 12th,” and “he was alive and well and optimistic.”
However, on the 16th, the day after the last video, Navalny fainted after a walk and collapsed, and despite “cardiopulmonary resuscitation,” he was declared dead two hours later. The prison said the cause of death was “being confirmed.”
State-run RT television reported that he suffered from a blood clot, but the Russian government has yet to hand over the body to the bereaved family.
According to Reuters, Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila, braved the bitter cold of -30 degrees Celsius on the 17th to visit her son, and was told on the spot that the cause of death was “sudden death syndrome.”
Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh received an official death notice stating that Navalny died on February 16 at 2:17 p.m., Reuters reported.
It is also unclear where Navalny’s body is. His mother, Lyudmila, was told that his body had been taken to Salekad, a village near the prison, but the village hospital morgue was already closed, Reuters added.
Navalny was imprisoned in various prisons in Russia for over three years, and complained of back pain so severe that his feet were paralyzed and ‘pain accompanied by insomnia’ due to the constant bright light in his cell.
During his 37 months in prison, he spent 296 days in solitary confinement in a concrete cell, unable to lie down during the day and only allowed to sit on a 14cm high backless bench, his lawyer said.
Human rights group Ovid Info said, “Navalny died as a result of a planned murder, a systematically carried out murder, a murder for which the Russian state is responsible,” and added, “There was no need to kill him by poisoning or other violent methods, all you had to do was wait. “He condemned.
Western leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, saluted Navalny’s courage and accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being responsible for Navalny’s death, without citing evidence.
Navalny was known as Putin’s biggest political enemy as an activist who exposed suspicions of corruption and corruption not only by President Putin but also by Russian officials.
He came close to death by overcoming a poisoning attack in August 2020, but the following year, after completing treatment and returning to Russia, he was immediately arrested and sentenced to more than 30 years in prison.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.