UN expresses outrage over Alexei Navalny’s death and demands end to persecution of dissidents in Russia

He United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) expressed in his last hours Fury After hearing the news of the death of Russian activist Alexey Navalny and demanded Vladimir Putin to put “End oppression” in country.

“Those detained or sentenced to various prison terms for the legitimate exercise of their rights, particularly the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, should be immediately released and all charges against them dropped “he said in a statement from the office.

For his part, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres earlier stressed that he was “shocked” by the news and expressed “his condolences to Navalny’s family.” They also called for a “credible and transparent investigation into the circumstances of his apparent death in prison”.

Navalny died this Friday in the remote IK-3 maximum security prison in the town of Jarp in the Yamalo-Nenetsem Autonomous District in the Arctic Circle.

“Necessary resuscitation procedures were performed, with no results. Emergency doctors confirmed the death of the accused person. The causes of death are being determined,” the official statement on the death of Navalny, 47, said: “On February 16, 2024, in prison center number 3, prisoner Navalny A.A. felt bad after walking,

However, the circumstances of his sudden death prompted the international community to take aim at Vladimir Putin and demand justice for this death, one of the Kremlin leader’s opponents.

The President of the Council, on behalf of the European Union, Charles Mitchellacknowledged that “the Russian regime bears full responsibility” for the episode and highlighted Navalny “fought for the values ​​of freedom and democracy”, “For his ideals, he made the supreme sacrifice. “Fighters die but the fight for freedom never ends.”

Also, NATO Secretary General, jens stoltenbergSaid Russia has “very serious questions to answer” and demanded that Moscow clarify the circumstances of his death. It didn’t take long for the United States to talk to the President Joe Biden Ensuring that even if “we don’t know exactly what happened, (…) make no mistake, Putin is responsible.” “What happened to Navalny? This is another proof of Putin’s cruelty. don’t fool anyone“, he said below.

The Kremlin defended itself against the allegations and said it did not know what caused the rival’s death. Presidential spokesman Dimitar Peskov said simply, “Doctors have to clarify this.” He also said that he did not want to issue “additional instructions” during the investigation of the case.

Navalny became Putin’s top rival years ago and was one of the main promoters of anti-corruption campaigns in the country. Due to these activities he faced severe harassment from the authorities, who tried to kill him in 2020 by poisoning him with Novichok nerve agent.

After this, in March 2021, he was arrested on charges of extremism, for which he was sentenced to 19 years in jail. Since then, he has been the victim of an irregular judicial process, violations of his rights, unfair transfers to maximum security prisons, and even prolonged periods of communication with his family or his defendants.

(With information from AFP)