Russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny Dies in Prison: Latest Updates and Reactions

(CNN)–Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died in prison on Friday, the Russian state-run TASS news agency reported, citing the country’s prison service.

For its part, the Russian Prison Service said on Friday that it was investigating the “sudden death” of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

While Navalny’s spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, said that Navalny’s lawyer is traveling to the Kharp region, where Navalny was serving his sentence.

Yarmysh added on the “X” platform, previously Twitter: “As soon as we obtain any information, we will report it.”

For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been informed of reports of Alexei Navalny’s death, according to the Russian government news agency RIA Novosti.

Alexei Navalny’s lawyers said on December 11, 2023 that they had lost contact with the imprisoned Russian opposition figure, who is believed to be imprisoned in a penal colony about 150 miles east of the capital, Moscow, and his whereabouts are not known.

Navalny was sentenced to 19 years in prison in August, after being found guilty of creating an extremist community, financing extremist activities and several other crimes. He was already serving an 11-and-a-half-year prison sentence in a maximum-security facility for fraud and other charges, which he denies.

Navalny’s supporters claimed that his arrest and imprisonment was a politically motivated attempt to stifle his criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Navalny posed one of the most serious threats to President Putin’s legitimacy during his rule, which extended for more than two decades.

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2024-02-16 11:51:52