NFollowing the death of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalnyj in a prison camp in northern Russia, the Russian security authorities took massive action against participants in numerous commemorative rallies. According to reports from human rights activists, there were hundreds of arrests across the country. The civil rights portal Ovd-Info wrote on Saturday evening that more than 400 Navalny supporters had been arrested in 36 cities, including Moscow and St. Petersburg. The portal also listed the names of those arrested.
This would be the largest wave of arrests in Russia since the arrest of more than 1,300 people during demonstrations against partial mobilization for the Ukrainian war in September 2022.
Protests and commemorations also in Germany
In many places, despite evictions and arrests, fresh flowers continued to be laid, candles were lit and pictures were put up in memory of Navalny. For example, despite a heavy police presence, people lined up in Moscow city center to place flowers at a memorial site for victims of political repression. There were also numerous rallies abroad in memory of the Kremlin opponent, mostly in front of Russian diplomatic missions. More than 1,000 people gathered in front of the Russian embassy in Berlin. There were also protests in Hamburg, Düsseldorf and other German cities.
“How great the power apparatus’s fear of a dead person is when even laying flowers in his memory is viewed as a crime,” wrote the Russian Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of the Kremlin-critical newspaper Novaya Gazeta, Dmitri Muratov, on the news channel on Saturday Telegram.
Flowers and pictures lie in memory of Alexei Navalnyj at the monument to the victims of political repression on Voskresenskaya Embankment in Saint Petersburg.
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Image: dpa
Body not yet handed over
Navalny’s supporters accused the Russian authorities of preventing the handover of his body in order to cover the tracks of his “murderers”. “It is obvious that the murderers want to cover their tracks and therefore do not hand over his body and even hide it from his mother,” Navalnyj’s team said on Saturday on the Telegram online service.
According to Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh, the investigative authorities told a lawyer for the opposition politician that the cause of death was still unclear and the body needed to be examined further. Results are therefore not expected until next week.
The spokeswoman called for the body to be handed over to Navalnyj’s family immediately. According to her, Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, visited a mortuary in the town of Salekhard in the Arctic Circle on Saturday in vain to receive her son’s remains.
According to the Russian authorities, the 47-year-old Navalny suddenly collapsed and died on Friday in the penal colony in Charp in the polar region. The death is said to have occurred at 2:17 p.m. local time (10:17 a.m. CET), reported his spokeswoman Kira Jarmysch.
Biden blames Putin
The death of President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent opponent caused consternation, especially in Western countries. US President Joe Biden blamed Putin for Navalny’s death. While 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 at the White House. “Putin is responsible.” Biden also said he was shocked but not surprised by the news of Navalny’s death.
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