A year after Alexei Navalny's death. His supporters will organize several commemorative events
One year after the death in prison of the Kremlin's main opponent, Alexei Navalny, his supporters are set to organize commemorative events on Sunday, including a visit to his grave in Moscow, despite the risk of reprisals from the authorities, AFP reports.
These tributes come at a time when the Russian opposition, beheaded by the loss of its personality and torn by internal struggles, finds itself in a position of unprecedented weakness.
Exiled in several countries abroad, its leaders are striving to reignite the flame of the fight against Vladimir Putin, especially in Russia, where any criticism of the government is severely repressed.
A charismatic anti-corruption campaigner and Vladimir Putin’s number one political enemy, Navalny has been declared an “extremist” by the Russian judiciary.
Publicly mentioning the opposition figure or his organization, the Anti-Corruption Fund (FBK), without specifying that they have been declared “extremist,” exposes offenders to severe sanctions.
This threat remains in force despite his death under murky circumstances in an Arctic prison on February 16, 2024, and the exile from Russia of almost all of his collaborators.
According to the opposition leader’s former right-hand man, Leonid Volkov, “Alexei’s supporters will organize commemorative events all over the world.”
He said on Telegram that in some places, there will be rallies or marches, in others screenings of a documentary dedicated to him, and in others simple ceremonies.
Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, who has taken over the reins of his movement, is due to participate in an event in Berlin, where many Russian opposition supporters live.
“Wherever you are, in Russia or abroad, we very much hope that you will meet like-minded people on February 16,” Volkov wrote, indicating the opening hours of Moscow’s Borissovskoye cemetery, where Navalny is buried.
Pro-Kremlin Telegram channels have warned supporters of the late opposition leader not to visit the cemetery.
“We give a brief advice to those who plan to go there, but are not yet sure: do not go!” reads a message shared by Kremlin-friendly journalist Dmitry Smirnov and other channels.
The message mentions “Big Brother and his ever-watchful eye,” with a photo of a sign indicating the presence of a surveillance camera at the cemetery gates.
Russian authorities have methodically dismantled Alexei Navalny’s movement, sending several of his supporters and Navalny himself to prison.
Four journalists are currently on trial in Russia for “participation in an extremist group,” accused of producing footage for Alexei Navalny’s team.
In January, three of the opposition leader’s lawyers were sentenced to between three and a half and five years in prison for spreading his messages while he was in custody.
Alexei Navalny’s death at the age of 47 has not yet been fully explained. Russian authorities say he died while walking in the prison yard.
He was arrested in January 2021, upon his return to Russia after convalescing in Germany, following a poisoning for which he blamed the Kremlin, which in turn denied the accusation.
In December 2023, he was transferred to an isolated penal colony beyond the Arctic Circle to serve a 19-year prison sentence for “extremism.”
Repressed in Russia, the Russian opposition is trying to relaunch itself abroad, so far without much success.
In November, Yulia Navalnaya and two other prominent opponents organized a march in Berlin against the Russian president and the offensive in Ukraine, bringing together about 2,000 Russian exiles.
Beyond slogans, the opposition is struggling to find a concrete approach that would lead to an end to the war and the departure of Vladimir Putin. A series of internal scandals have also weakened the opposition.
In Russia, the repression has sent hundreds of people to prison and thousands more have been punished or threatened because of their opposition to the government or the conflict in Ukraine.
