Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has disappeared from his cell. His supporters and lawyers have not been able to reach him for more than a week. Prison authorities refuse to say anything about him. The 47-year-old Navalny has been behind bars since January 2021. His poor health is a cause for concern.
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• Also read: According to his relatives, the imprisoned Russian opponent Navalny cannot be found
With incredible courage, he returned to Russia from Germany, where he had been treated for an attempted nerve agent poisoning in Siberia. Upon his arrival in Moscow he was immediately arrested.
In August he was sentenced to an additional 19 years in prison for extremism, on top of the 11 and a half years he was already serving. His supporters expected him to be transferred to a “special regime” penal colony, the harshest type of internment camp in the Russian prison system.
- Listen to the Lester Durocher meeting with blogger Normand Lester from the Journal de Montréal QUB radio :
Putin is playing hide and seek
The Kremlin will try to keep Navalny's whereabouts secret for as long as possible to prevent him from commenting on Putin's pseudo-campaign, which has just announced that he is seeking another six-year term in elections starting March 17.
Navalny has been organizing protests against the Kremlin for years and describes Putin and his clique as a “bunch of crooks and thieves.” He has published several investigations online into Putin's personal wealth, his corruption and that of his entourage. He wants to limit the powers of the Russian president in favor of a stronger parliamentary system.
Although its movement is largely dismantled and most of its leaders are in exile, the Kremlin fears they will use the campaign to undermine public support for the war in Ukraine. From prison, Navalny has spoken out against this war and called for the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops and the payment of compensation to Ukrainians using Russian oil and gas revenues.
Photo AFP
Navalny to Prigogine?
Navalny was often able to spread his attacks against the Kremlin from prison through his lawyers and people around him. Three of them were arrested in October and charged with “extremist” activities.
Navalny's supporters were preparing to launch an “anti-Putin” campaign, and his disappearance will only strengthen their resolve and efforts. They believe that promoting him on the international stage is a way to protect him.
Putin has already tried to have Navalny assassinated. Will he dare to do it again? During his two decades in power, he has already killed dozens of other opponents. The last on the list, Yevgeny Prigogine, the commander of the Wagner mercenary group, died when his plane exploded shortly after defying Putin and sending a tank column toward Moscow. Others fell unexpectedly from high windows.
The worrying thing is that, according to independent polls, a majority of Russians approve of Putin's performance as president. What is also worrying is that polls in the US show Trump leading Biden in the 2024 presidential election.