Navalny: I do not regret a second that I returned to Russia

In the statement that “Does not regret a second” for that he returned to Russia and called on his fellow citizens “not to be afraid”, the Russian opposition proceeded today, Monday (17/1) Alexei Navalny, exactly one year after his arrest.

“I did it, I do not regret it for a second,” he wrote on social media, referring to his fight against the Kremlin and his return to the country despite the possibility of being arrested, as he did, after months of recovery after being poisoned. “After a year in prison, I tell you what I shouted at those (who supported me) in court: ‘Do not be afraid,'” said the opposition, whose messages are regularly shared on social media. Today’s post is accompanied by a photo of him in prison uniform with his wife, Julia.

Exactly a year ago, I returned home to Russia. Not a single step to pass through my country as a free man did not work, …

Posted by Alexei Navalny on Monday, January 17, 2022

Navalny appeared in court again today, this time to hear two lawsuits he had filed against the penitentiary administration. The Petutsky district court in the Vladimir region, where he is being held, is examining the two cases, according to the APE-MPE. Navalny took part in the first hearing via video link, locked in a cage, according to footage broadcast by the independent internet channel Dojd.

Navalny: The chronicle from his arrest until today

The opposition member was arrested on January 17, 2021 at a Moscow airport, on his way back from recovery in Germany after suffering a severe poisoning in Siberia in August, for which he blames President Vladimir Putin. Russia has never launched an investigation into this assassination attempt, stating that he has no indication of such a thing and accusing Berlin of not sending her Navalny’s medical examinations.

This anti-corruption activist of the Russian elites was later convicted of two and a half years in prison for a “fraud” case which he considers to have been politically motivated. His conviction sparked a torrent of international backlash and new Western sanctions against Moscow. One of his close associates, who now lives in exile abroad, o Leonid Volkov, estimated on social media how January 17 “will go down in history as the beginning of the end of Putinism” (s.s. of Putin’s rule).

The arrest of Alexei Navalny had provoked many large demonstrations a year ago but were quickly and violently suppressed by the authorities. His movement was then outlawed as extremist, while opposition, media and NGOs critical of the Kremlin suffered a wave of increasing repression. Navalny is also being prosecuted again, mainly for “extremism”, which could result in him staying in prison for many years.

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