Russian opponent Alexei Navalny, who spends Sunday his third birthday in prison since his arrest, said he was keeping his spirits up, despite the tightening of his detention conditions and yet another placement in the mitard. Meanwhile, at least 45 people were arrested Sunday by police in several Russian cities, mainly Moscow and St. Petersburg, during actions in support of Alexei Navalny for his birthday, according to the specialized NGO OVD-Info.
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For your birthday, you have to be honest with yourself and I asked myself this question: do I really have the morale or do I force myself to be like that? My answer is that I really have it," the 47-year-old activist said in a message. He says he is in a disciplinary cell for the 16th time. His supporters say the authorities are trying to break him psychologically by regularly sending him for several days to these cells with drastic living conditions.
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It is clear that I would like not to wake up in this hole, but to have breakfast with my family, a kiss on the cheek of my children, open my presents and say 'Wow, this is exactly what I dreamed,'" writes Alexei Navalny. "But this is the way life is: social progress and a better future can only be achieved if a certain number of people are willing to pay for the right to have convictions," he adds.
Already sentenced to nine years' imprisonment
According to him, "a day will come when telling the truth and fighting for justice in Russia will have become an ordinary and safe thing." "My plan for the past year was not to become irascible and bitter, to keep a relaxed attitude, otherwise it would be the beginning of my defeat," he said, thanking his supporters and saluting all "political prisoners" around the world.
Alexei Navalny is expected to be tried soon in a new case for "extremism" where he faces an additional 35 years in prison. Imprisoned since January 2021, on his return to Russia after recovering from a serious poisoning he blames on the Kremlin, Alexei Navalny believes that this new case is a way to keep him in detention for life.
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In March 2021, he was sentenced to nine years in prison on charges of "fraud" that he deems fictitious. From his prison 200 km from Moscow, he continues to transmit messages to his team about his detention and denouncing Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine.