Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The European Union said that Russian President Vladimir Putin bore “ultimate responsibility” for the death of Alexei Navalny.
The European Union‘s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, stated Navalny “gave his life for a free and democratic Russia” and called for the freedom of all political prisoners in Russia.
Today marks one year since the death of Russian opposition leader politician Alexei Navalny, for which President Putin and the Russian authorities bear ultimate responsibility,
Kallas stated in a statement.
As Russia intensifies its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, it also continues its internal repression, targeting those who stand for democracy,
Kallas expressed. Navalny’s lawyers remain
unjustly imprisoned, together with hundreds of political prisoners,
she added.
Russia must immediately and unconditionally release Alexei Navalny’s lawyers and all political prisoners,
the foreign policy chief said.
How is Russia suppressing political opposition after Navalny’s death?
A year after Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny passed behind bars, his followers held memorial occasions on Sunday, February 16, with hundreds visiting his burial in Moscow. Until his demise, he continued to call for Russians to fight the Kremlin and accused Moscow’s Ukraine offensive, even from prison.
The charismatic Navalny, Putin’s primary opponent who fought against government lawlessness, died a year ago while imprisoned in a remote Arctic penal settlement. Kremlin authorities have never fully justified his death, which they stated happened while he was walking on the prison premises.
Navalny was outlawed as an “extremist” by Moscow authorities, a declaration that still stands although he died in an Arctic prison camp on February 16, 2024. In Russia, individuals who speak about Navalny or his Anti-Corruption Foundation without prefacing that they are “extremists” can be fined or jailed for successive offences.
