‘Putin’s political enemy’ Alexei Navalny pictured in IK-3 (the third prison) in the Siberian region, the northernmost part of Russia, when he was alive./Reuters Yonhap News
Russian media reported that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny (47), the biggest enemy of President Vladimir Putin, died in prison on the 16th.
According to the TASS news agency on this day, Navalny died while in prison in the 6th prison under the jurisdiction of the Federal Correctional Service, 240 km from Moscow. According to correctional authorities, Navalny has been complaining of pain since last week, saying, “I feel sick.” The specific cause of his death has not yet been revealed.
“Navalny said his condition worsened after the walk and he lost consciousness almost immediately,” corrections officials said in a statement. “Medical staff arrived immediately but failed to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation.” Navalny, who was sentenced to 9 years in prison on charges of robbery, was recently sentenced to an additional 19 years in prison on additional charges of extremism.
IK-3 Federal Prison in Haf settlement, Yamal-Nenets Oblast, Russia, where Alexei Navalny was serving his sentence./Reuters Yonhap News
Navalny had previously exposed suspicions of high-profile Russian corruption, but in 2020, he collapsed while showing signs of poisoning on a domestic flight in Russia and was evacuated to Germany, where he remained unconscious for 20 days before survive dramatically. Navalny was accused of being behind the Putin regime after it was revealed that he had been exposed to Novichok, a nerve agent used by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, but the Russian government has directly denied these claims.
Navalny, a former human rights lawyer, is a symbol of Russia’s democratization movement and has been seen as Putin’s greatest political enemy.
Navali speaks at a rally demanding the release of protesters detained during opposition demonstrations for fair elections in Moscow, Russia, on September 29, 2019. Reuters News1
He tried to challenge Putin in the 2018 presidential election, but his candidacy was blocked due to his past conviction for embezzlement while a local government adviser. He is active on social media with his blunt language and has gathered millions of fans.
Navalny, who was born near Moscow in 1976 of Russian and Ukrainian descent, studied law at the Friendship University of Russia and graduated in finance at the Financial University under the Russian Federal Government before studying abroad at Yale University in the United States. While working as a human rights lawyer and blogger, he made a name for himself as a national politician by strongly criticizing the corruption of high-ranking figures in Russia, including Putin. In 2013, he also ran in the Moscow mayoral election, garnering almost 28% of the votes, putting Putin’s regime ahead. Afterwards, he led anti-government protests targeting the Putin government and became President Putin’s representative political opponent. Thereafter, the Putin regime actively blocked Navalny’s actions by investigating, indicting and imprisoning him on various charges, including corruption. The more he did this, the more his approval rating increased. Even before the Novichok incident, his life was threatened several times. In 2017, he almost lost his sight in one eye after a gunman sprayed him with green dye.
Russia is preparing for general elections in March. Putin’s landslide victory was expected as the Russian authorities continued to block the candidacy of those who voiced even the slightest criticism of the government. Putin, who abolished the rule for reappointment in 2022, can stay in power until 2030 if he wins this election. And a month before the election, his biggest political opponent died mysteriously in prison.
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