2024-02-16T17:15:44+00:00
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/ The mother of Alexei Navalny, the most prominent opponent of the Kremlin, who died today in prison, confirmed that her son was in good health, during her last visit to him a few days ago, while the Moscow authorities warned the residents of the Russian capital on Friday against any “unauthorized” demonstrations after the announcement of Navalny’s death.
“Organizing any unauthorized gatherings, calls for such events or participation in them constitutes an administrative violation,” the Moscow prosecutor’s office said, warning against “any violation of the law.”
Navalny’s mother talks about ‘last prison meeting’
Navalny’s mother was quoted by the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta as saying that her son was “alive, healthy and happy” when she last saw him on February 12.
“I don’t want to hear any condolences. We saw him in prison on February 12. He was alive, healthy and happy,” Lyudmila Navalnaya wrote in a Facebook post on Friday, Novaya Gazeta reported.
The Russian prison service announced on Friday the death of imprisoned opposition politician Alexei Navalny.
The service said in a statement that Navalny felt unwell after walking on Friday and lost consciousness. An ambulance arrived to try to revive him, but he died.
Following this, the Russian Investigative Committee announced that it had launched a procedural investigation into the circumstances of Navalny’s death in a prison.
The Russian news agency “TASS” quoted the Kremlin as saying that President Vladimir Putin had been informed of Navalny’s death.
Navalny, who was serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges, was transferred in December from his previous prison in Russia’s central Vladimir region to a “special regime” penal colony – Russia’s highest security prison – above the Arctic Circle.
Navalny, 47, is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest opponent and was arrested in January 2021 upon his return to Moscow from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from nerve agent poisoning blamed on the Kremlin. Russian authorities have rejected the accusation.