A Russian court on Tuesday ordered the arrest of Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian prison earlier this year.
Navalnaya left Russia in 2021 and has been living in Germany since the death of her husband. She has been placed on an international wanted list and would face immediate arrest if she returns to Russia, The New York Times reported. report.
Her husband died in a northern Russian prison in February, and the circumstances surrounding his death have raised questions. Mr Navalny was one of the most vocal opposition leaders in Russia, arguing against corruption and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Navalnaya has accused Putin and the Russian government of killing her husband and has pledged to take over his opposition campaign.
The Basmanny District Court’s press office released a statement announcing the arrest order. The reasons for the charges were not disclosed, but they are likely related to the work she has been doing since his death.
Kira Yarmysh, a spokeswoman for Navalnyaya, said: Confirmed The court alleges that she was “part of an extremist community” on social media platform X.
Inside her Your Posts During the X broadcast, Navalnaya mentioned the arrest warrant and mocked the unusual procedure for obtaining one.
“When you write about this, remember the bottom line: Vladimir Putin is a murderer and a war criminal,” she wrote. “His place is in prison – not in a cozy TV-equipped cell somewhere in The Hague, but in the same 2-by-3-metre cell in the same Russian colony where he killed Alexei.”
At the time of his death, Navalny was serving a 19-year sentence in Russia’s maximum security prison near the Arctic Circle.
According to the Russian Federal Prison Service, Mr Navalny suddenly lost consciousness during a walk and attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful. Mr Navalny’s sudden death has raised concerns of foul play among world leaders, including President Biden, who has previously claimed that “President Putin is responsible for Mr Navalny’s death.”
