One year since the arrest of Alexei Navalny

A year after his arrest at a Moscow airport, which was strongly condemned by the West, Alexei Navalny seems to be fighting again, with high morale. Although being held in Russian prisons, Russian President Vladimir Putin, a fierce critic of Russia, has been communicating with the outside world through instagram and, in particular, through messages he gives to lawyers and visitors.

Struggle through social networks

The 45-year-old explains in a photo he uploaded on Monday with his wife Julia, that it is important for him to be honest with himself: “I do not regret it for a minute and I continue”. Through the prisons, Navalny watched all the movements of the Authorities and the wave of repression that focused on the crushing of his organization “Anti-Corruption Fund”. Navalny’s websites are no longer accessible in Russia. The Kremlin has branded its former supporters “extremists” and “terrorists.” Putin also recently reiterated that these organizations are trying to destroy the country from within.

The Russian president even used his appearance at the annual press conference last December to once again eliminate allegations that he poisoned his opponent in August 2020. The West has not yet presented any evidence of the “alleged poisoning” with Novitsok. . “Nothing. Zero,” said Putin, who did not call Navalny by name once throughout the interview. His statement, however, according to official information, contradicts the findings of several laboratories, including the German Armed Forces, which had identified the poison.

Voices in favor of the liberation of Navalny

But unlike Navalny, many of Putin’s opponents did not survive. The opposition leader accuses a unit of the FSB secret service, operating under Putin’s command, of poisoning him in Siberia. Navalny collapsed on board the plane, which landed in Omsk, where he was treated until being flown to Berlin. Navalny made public the names of the suspected FSB killers, while investigating the case with the help of journalists. However, the Russian judiciary so far refuses to initiate a preliminary procedure. Even the threat of sanctions from the West does not seem to impress Russia. The federal government under then-Chancellor Angela Merkel, who also visited Navalny at Berlin’s Charite Hospital, has made it clear that responsibility for resolving Navalny’s assassination attempt lies with Russia.

The Navalny case is one of the issues that will be of concern to the new Foreign Minister, Analena Berbok, who is scheduled to meet for the first time today, Tuesday, with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. One of the topics of the meeting is the international demands for the release of the political prisoner, as the opposition and its supporters – now from abroad – have been calling on the West to impose sanctions on those responsible – including the oligarchs who supported the “system”. Putin. ”

Ulf Mounter, dpa

Edited by: Chryssa Vachtsevanou

Source: Deutsche Welle