OAN’s Elizabeth Bolbelding
12:05 PM – Monday, February 19, 2024
More than 400 people are currently being held in Russia mourning the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who reportedly died in an Arctic penal colony last week, according to a prominent human rights organization.
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On Friday, Russian authorities announced that Navalny, who was serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges, died in prison last week. He died in a prison in the Arctic Circle on the Yamal Peninsula.
Navalny’s death sparked several demonstrations internationally and in Russia, with people hoping to see him run against Russian President Vladimir Putin in future elections.
The unexpected death of Navalny, 47, left many Russians who had pinned their future hopes on Mr. Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s most critical opponent, devastated. Even after surviving a nerve agent poisoning and serving several prison sentences, Mr. Navalny remained an outspoken critic of Mr. Putin. .
As the news spread around the world, hundreds of people gathered in dozens of Russian cities on Friday and Saturday, marking temporary memorials and memorials to Navalny and those who suffered from political repression and censorship. paid homage to.
Navalny’s supporters brought flowers and candles to the memorial.By Saturday night, police had arrested 401 people in more than a dozen cities, rights groups said. OVD informationtracks political arrests and provides legal assistance.
The group reported this data to trackers on the website.
More than 200 people have been arrested in Russia’s second city, St. Petersburg. OVD information.
One of those detained was Grigory Mikhnov Voytenko, a priest of the Apostolic Orthodox Church, which is independent of the Russian Orthodox Church. He was detained on Saturday morning after announcing on social media that he would hold a memorial service for Navalny. He was arrested on suspicion of organizing a rally and taken to police custody.
but, OVD information He later revealed that he suffered a stroke and had to be hospitalized.
The court recommended sentences ranging from one to six days for 42 of those detained on Friday, and nine others were indicted, according to a statement from St. Petersburg court officials on Saturday.
moreover, OVD information At least six people in Moscow reported being ordered to spend 15 days in prison. Two more people were jailed in the city of Bryansk and one more in the southern city of Krasnodar, the group said.
The announcement of Navalny’s death came a month before Russia’s presidential election, which is likely to extend President Vladimir Putin’s term in office for another six years. As of Sunday, there were still no answers regarding the cause of death or when authorities would release the body to the family.
Navalny’s team said the politician had been “murdered” and claimed the government had deliberately delayed releasing the body. Mr Navalny’s mother and lawyer reportedly received conflicting information from various facilities they visited in search of his body.
Mr Navalny’s press secretary, Kira Yarmysh, claimed on Saturday: “They are chasing us in circles and hiding their tracks.”
Yarmysh said a note given to Navalny’s mother stated that Navalny died at 2:17 p.m. Friday.
When the mother arrived at the prison on Saturday, authorities told her that her son had died of what was believed to be “sudden death syndrome.”
“Everything in the colony is monitored by cameras. His every step has been filmed from every angle over the years. Each employee has a video recorder. In the last two days, no video has been leaked or made public. There was not a single video. There is no room for uncertainty here,” Leonid Volkov, Navalny’s closest supporter and strategist, said on Sunday.
Russia’s Federal Prison Service said Navalny “felt unwell” after a walk on Friday and later fell unconscious in the penal colony. An ambulance arrived shortly afterward, but they were unable to revive Navalny, the report said, adding that the cause of his death “is still unknown.”
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