On February 16, local time, it was reported that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny had died in prison, which attracted global attention.
A report quoted the Russian prison department as saying that the 47-year-old Navalny fell ill after taking a walk and "almost immediately lost consciousness." "All necessary rescue measures have been implemented, but no positive results have been achieved. The emergency doctor confirmed that the criminal was dead. The cause of death is currently being ascertained."
The prison where Navalny died is in Yamal, about 1,900 kilometers northeast of Moscow. Khapu in the Nenets region, a region north of the Arctic Circle, is considered one of Russia's toughest prisons.
According to the "Daily Mail" report, after the news of Navalny's death came out, mourning activities were held in many cities in Europe, such as London, England, Paris, France, Berlin, Germany, etc., and some people gathered at A vigil outside the Russian Embassy.
It is reported that there are also small-scale memorial activities in some Russian cities, and people placed flowers in several symbolic places.
Since 2013, Navalny has been continuously convicted for various reasons, but he has also participated in the election of Moscow mayor, and even signed up to run for president, but failed to pass the qualification review.
was hospitalized due to nerve agent poisoning in 2020, and was later sent to Berlin for treatment. After recovery, he returned to Russia, but was imprisoned for violating parole conditions. After that, he almost never left prison. His sentence was extended to 19 years. He was originally going to be released from prison in December 2038, but he did not wait until much later.
The last footage of Navalny's life was also made public after his death, when he was appearing in court via video.
Just the day before he was announced as dead, Navalny looked at the camera through the iron fence with a bright smile on his face. "Your honor, I will send you my personal account so you can use your huge salary as a federal judge to 'warm up' my personal account because 'thank you (for the verdict),' my money We’re almost running out.”
The camera then switched to the bailiff at the other end of the video, who was also amused by Navalny’s joke. The judge who looked quite young also had a smile on his face and said "Thank you and goodbye." (English subtitles are added later)
I wonder if the judge knew that his "goodbye" turned out to be a farewell. .
Regarding the unexplained death of Navalny, leaders of many countries in NATO and the European Union have responded, expressing condolences while also pointing the finger at Russia.
The 81-year-old US President Joe Biden was one of those who responded relatively late. It is reported that he only spoke five hours after the news broke. Biden's words were full of accusations, but he did not indicate that the United States would take any punitive measures against Navalny's death.
This is quite surprising. After all, Biden made harsh words three years ago, saying that if Navalny dies, it will have "devastating consequences" for Russia. And Biden also claimed that he told Russian President Vladimir Putin face-to-face at a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, "I made it clear to him that I believed this would have devastating consequences for Russia." But. Biden declined at the time to say exactly what action he would take.
Now, when a reporter mentioned the threat back then, Biden said: "That was three years ago."
