Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader and staunch critic of President Vladimir Putin for the past decade, has died in prison. Russian prisons confirmed that he died in custody on Friday.
British media reported that Navalny was sentenced to 19 years in prison. After the sentence, he was taken to the Arctic Penal Colony, which is considered to be the toughest prison.
According to the prison department of Russia’s Yamlo-Nenets district, Navalny felt ill while walking. He quickly lost consciousness. At that time the medical team was called and efforts were made to revive him. But it could not be successful.
They also said that emergency department doctors declared the imprisoned Navalny dead. The cause of his death is being investigated.
Navalny was considered the only opposition leader in Russia. He was able to mobilize large numbers of people across Russia to participate in anti-government protests.
In 2011-12, there were widespread protests in Russia over allegations of election rigging. Navalny played an important role in organizing that protest. He brought forward various information about the corruption of the Russian government. In addition, he used to publish videos containing various secret information of Putin’s close friends. Which was seen by millions of people.
In 2013, Navalny became a prominent figure in Russian politics. He won 27 percent of the vote in the Moscow mayoral election that year. Most Russians believed the Moscow mayoral election was not transparent. But despite that he got so many votes.
Navalny was poisoned in Siberia in 2020. But he survived the service. At that time he was taken abroad for better treatment. After laboratory tests in Western countries, it is known that a substance called a nerve agent has been applied to Navalny’s body.
After recovering, Navalny returned to Russia again in 2021. However, he was arrested as soon as he returned home.
