As of: February 16, 2024, 10:52 p.m
By: Jens Kiffmeier
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Isolation and hardly any medication: Putin opponent Alexei Navalny died under harsh prison conditions.
Was there a deliberate Kremlin strategy behind this?
Moscow – In the end, any help came too late: Alexei Navalny is probably dead. This report from Russia spread rapidly around the world on Friday (February 16).
According to the Russian judiciary, emergency paramedics from the Labytnangi hospital arrived at the prison within seven minutes and fought for the life of the Kremlin opponent for another half hour - but in vain.
But can that be true?
According to the official information, the emergency services would have had to travel around 35 kilometers between the hospital and the prison in the seven minutes, writes the independent Russian media platform
Novaya Gazeta
- and therefore doubts the information about the background to the death.
And doubts actually seem more than appropriate.
After Navalny's death: Biden blames Putin directly
The case is sensitive: Alexei Navalny was considered the biggest adversary of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to the Russian judiciary, the 47-year-old, who has been serving a 19-year prison sentence since 2021, collapsed and died on Friday after walking in the courtyard.
Navalny's employee Ivan Zhdanov said in the evening that Navalny was "most likely" dead. Official confirmation from lawyers was still pending.
The death of the opposition politician, who returned to Russia in 2021 after a poison attack despite the threat of imprisonment, caused consternation in many countries.
Politicians accused Putin and the Russian justice system of political murder - especially US President Joe Biden.
Although we don't know exactly what happened, there is no doubt that Navalny's death was a result of Putin's actions and those of his criminals, Biden said on Friday in the White House.
“Putin is responsible.”
Demonstrators across Europe are accusing him of the death of Alexei Navalny: Russian President Vladimir Putin.
© Martial Trezzini/Alexander Ryumin/dpa/Montage
The German federal government made a similarly clear statement.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) called Navalny's death depressing.
It was very brave that he went back to Russia.
Now he has “paid for this courage with his life,” says Scholz in Berlin.
We now know exactly what kind of regime is in power in Moscow.
“Alexei Navalny fought for a democratic Russia,” explained Finance Minister Christian Lindner on the short message service X, adding: “Putin tortured him to death for that.
This is new, shocking evidence of the criminal character of this regime.”
Sick in prison: Did the Kremlin consciously organize Navalny's death?
Did the Kremlin actually have a hand in it?
This will probably be difficult to prove.
But the opposition's supporters have long denounced a targeted, lengthy killing strategy.
It is entirely possible that the authorities in Russia specifically wanted to weaken Navalny and make him sick - "not suddenly, but gradually," Navalny's lawyer Vadim Kobsev warned in April 2023.
At that time, the Kremlin critic had lost more than eight kilos within a few days - and had apparently not received any medical treatment.
Kobsev said at the time that medicines that had been sent to the prison by his mother were simply returned.
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Navalny is dead according to the Russian authorities: Read the first report on the possible cause of death
Navalny barely survived being poisoned with Novichok in 2020.
After treatment in Berlin, he returned to Russia - and was immediately arrested in Moscow.
This was followed by several convictions to a total of 19 years in prison.
Nevertheless, Navalny continued to speak out critically about his lawyers and supporters, which is why he had to accept harassment in prison.
He was moved to isolation cells several times - regardless of the fact that his health continued to have to cope with setbacks.
Since March, his lawyers have repeatedly reported various illnesses, whether back pain, symptoms of paralysis in the leg, high potassium levels in the blood, fever or drastic weight loss.
Concerns about Navalny continued to grow, not diminish.
The Kremlin apparently accepted this with approval.
The news site
Meduzza
quoted two high-ranking security officials on Friday who blamed poor prison conditions for Navalny's death: The opposition politician "knew what he was getting into when he returned to Russia in 2021," the report said.
And further: “Sooner or later it had to happen.” Other bizarre reactions also came from Russia.
Navalny is another entry on the list of Putin victims
The death of Alexei Navalny joins a long list of opposition figures who have disappeared, emigrated or died in recent years.
The deaths have almost everything in common: the exact causes and circumstances of death have always remained obscure to this day.
Other Kremlin opponents are still alive, but have had to flee abroad and into exile.
Here is an overview:
Alexei Navalny
: Died in custody
Boris Nemtsov
: Shot with four bullets
Anna Politkovskaya
: Shot in her apartment
Vladimir Kara-Mursa
: Sentenced to 25 years in prison
Xenia Fadeyeva
: Sentenced to nine years in prison
Oleg Orlov
: Currently on trial
Mikhail Khodorkovsky
: fled into exile in London
Boris Akunin
: Classified as a “foreign agent” in exile
Source: AFP
Blame for Navalny's death?
Kremlin rejects allegations
What is happening in Russia cannot currently be independently verified.
However, the Kremlin, for its part, rejected the accusations from the West.
The reactions were “exaggerated” and “unacceptable,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to the Interfax news agency.
There is still no precise information from forensic experts and the prison system.
There is therefore nothing more to say on the subject.
But it probably won't bother Putin either.
The re-election to the presidential office in Russia is coming up in March.
And he no longer has to fear new heckling from Navalny from the camp.
Kremlin officials revealed to
Meduzza
magazine that they do not assume that the election could really be influenced by recent events.
(
jkf
)