Russian opposition politician, Alexei Navalny, dies in Arctic Circle jail
On Friday, Russia’s federal penitentiary service announced that Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny passed away at the Arctic prison colony where he was serving a 19-year term.
The prison service in Russia’s Yamalo-Nenets district where Navalny was being held said he had felt unwell after a walk on Friday. He had “almost immediately lost consciousness”, it said in a statement, adding that an emergency medical team had immediately been called and tried to resuscitate him but without success.
“The emergency doctors declared the prisoner dead. Cause of death is being established.”
Russia’s Investigative Committee announced it had initiated an investigation into his death.
His wife Yulia has appealed to the international community “to help punish this regime”.
His mother Lyudmila Navalnaya added:
“I don’t want to hear any condolences. We saw him in prison on the 12th [February], in a meeting. He was alive, healthy and happy.”
Alexei Navalny, 47, is a well know opposition leader, he gained fame for his Youtube videos criticizing corruption in Vladimir Putin’s government
Most of the Russian president’s critics have fled Russia, but Alexei Navalny returned in January 2021, after months of medical treatment. In August 2020 he was poisoned at the end of a trip to Siberia with a Novichok nerve agent.
His team succeeded in flying him out to Germany for specialist treatment and on his return to Moscow he was immediately taken into custody, he was jailed for 19 years on charges of retribution. He was moved to an Arctic prison colony in Siberia last year.
