Alexei Navalny, a vociferous critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as per reports has died in jail.
Since December of last year, the 47-year-old Kremlin critic has been serving a 19-year-term, imprisoned in a desolate penal colony situated above the Arctic Circle.
Reports of Navalny’s death come not even a day after Michael Carpenter, the US Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on X said that the Russian opposition leader has once again been “thrown into a punitive isolation cell for an unimaginable 27th time”. According to Carpenter, Navalny faced a 15-day stint in isolation.
Reports indicate Alexey Navalny has been thrown into a punitive isolation cell for an unimaginable 27th time. Navalny faces a 15-day stint in solitary confinement, adding to the 293 days he’s already endured. We condemn this ongoing assault on @navalny‘s rights and we call for… pic.twitter.com/DB3dzT70RJ
— Michael Carpenter, U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE (@USAmbOSCE) February 15, 2024
Reports of death yet to be confirmed
As of now, Navalny’s team is yet to confirm reports of his death. Even as the world awaits confirmation, the reports of his death have evoked shock and sorrow.
Calling it “terrible news,” and a “huge tragedy” for the people of Russia, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in a post on X said, “As the fiercest advocate for Russian democracy, Alexei Navalny demonstrated incredible courage throughout his life.”
This is terrible news. As the fiercest advocate for Russian democracy, Alexei Navalny demonstrated incredible courage throughout his life.
My thoughts are with his wife and the people of Russia, for whom this is a huge tragedy. https://t.co/AQvQQW5GBh
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) February 16, 2024
Edgars Rinkēvičs, the President of the Republic of Latvia labelled the reported death a “brutal murder” and said: “Whatever your thoughts about Alexey @Navalny as the politician, he was just brutally murdered by the Kremlin. That’s a fact and that is something one should know about the true nature of Russia’s current regime.”
Whatever your thoughts about Alexey @Navalny as the politician, he was just brutally murdered by the Kremlin. That’s a fact and that is something one should know about the true nature of Russia’s current regime. My condolences to the family and friends.
— Edgars Rinkēvičs (@edgarsrinkevics) February 16, 2024
Ukraine’s presidential aide Andriy Yermak on X declared that Russian President Putin is “afraid of any competition,” and that “the lives of Russians are nothing to him.”
putin is the ultimate evil who is afraid of any competition. The lives of russians are nothing to him.
Everyone who calls for negotiations must realize that he cannot be trusted. The only language he understands is force.
— Andriy Yermak (@AndriyYermak) February 16, 2024
Reacting to the news, former US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi as she arrived for the Munich Security Conference said, “I think we have to find out more, but in any case, it is a horrible tragedy if it is so. But his imprisonment is a horrible tragedy.”
“It would be a horrible thing. Starvation, lack of care under prison conditions, is that what he died from or you think it was an affirmative act? I think we have to find out more, but in any case it is a horrible tragedy if it is so. But his imprisonment is a horrible tragedy. Period,” she added, as reported by Reuters.
In a statement, Russia’s federal penitentiary service said that the Russian leader Navalny “felt bad after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness.” They added that while “Medical staff arrived immediately and an ambulance team was called,” resuscitation measures “did not yield positive results.”
“Paramedics confirmed the death of the convict. The causes of death are being established,” it added.
