Alexei Navalny Video Day Before Death Raises Alarms
By: By Matthew Impelli - Newsweek 90 News - 02-16-24
Re:
https://www.newsweek.com/alexei-nava...0646?piano_t=1
Video link:
https://www.newsweek.com/alexei-nava...0646?piano_t=1
Note: Yesterday Navalny looked to be fine during a court hearing where he spoke via video link from his penal colony pic.twitter.com/e8HoAnWsQB
per — Francis Scarr (@francis_scarr) February 16, 2024
A video of Alexei Navalny taken just a day before his death on Friday has raised alarms about the jailed Russian opposition leader.
"Yesterday Navalny looked to be fine during a court hearing where he spoke via video link from his penal colony," Francis Scarr of BBC Monitoring wrote on X, formerly Twitter, sharing a video of Navalny.
Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service announced on Friday that Navalny had died in prison and the cause of death was still "being established." Navalny had been in jail since 2021.
The Federal Penitentiary Service said in a statement that Navalny fainted while on a walk and died shortly after: "Medical workers from the institution immediately arrived and an emergency medical team was called."
A number of other social media users also shared the video of Navalny just a day before his reported death.
Navalny, seen as Russian President Vladimir Putin's biggest critic, has been in jail since February 2021 under major fraud and contempt of court charges that are widely viewed as politically motivated. He was being held in an Arctic penal colony, considered one of the country's harshest, where he had been serving a 19-year jail term.
Journalist Yashar Ali shared the video on X, saying, "This video of Alexei Navalny is from yesterday. He had a court appearance which he attended from the Arctic penal colony he was being held in."
Anton Gerashchenko, a former adviser to Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs shared the video and said, "Yesterday, Aleksey Navalny spoke in court via video link. He seemed to be in good health and even joked."
[Ned Davies of BBC responded to the video, saying, "Here's Navalny showing what makes him unique in this video after his final prison transfer. He kept injecting humour and positivity into those around him even in the bleakest of situations."]
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry via email for comment.
The context:
Navalny's death on Friday comes a few weeks before Russia is expected to hold its presidential elections in March where President Vladimir Putin is seeking his 5th term.
Putin, who has led Russia since 2012, previously altered Russia's constitution, allowing him to seek two more presidential terms after 2024.
Navalny was a vocal critic of Putin and his supporters have repeatedly called for his release from the Russian penal colony.
[ Note: A photo of Navalny in prison:
https://d.newsweek.com/en/full/23501...52b4d4c14449cd
Alexei Navalny is seen on a screen via a video link from the IK-3 penal colony on January 11. A video from February 15 raised eyebrows given how healthy Navalny appeared to look just one day before his death was announced.]
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What we know:
In 2013, Navalny who was convicted of embezzlement and sentenced to a five-year prison sentence. However, his sentence was later reversed by a judge pending appeal. Navalny then led an attempt to run for Mayor of Moscow shortly after being released, where he came in second place.
In 2019, Navalny was jailed in connection to a protest over an election in Russia. While traveling to Moscow in 2020, he became ill, resulting in a plane making an emergency landing in the Russian city of Omsk.
Navalny was later transported to Germany where doctors determined that he was poisoned with a nerve agent. The Kremlin denied reports that it was involved in the poisoning as Navalny continued to accuse them of attempting to kill him. In 2021, Navalny decided to return to Russia where he was jailed again with a nine-year sentence for allegations of contempt of court and embezzlement.
This is a breaking news story that will be updated when more information becomes available.
Update 2/16/24, 8:11 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information and to note that Newsweek reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment.
About this Matthew Impelli Writer - see more below:
Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In January 2023, Matthew traveled to Moscow, Idaho where he reported on the quadruple murders and arrest of Bryan Kohberger. Matthew joined Newsweek in 2019 after graduating from Syracuse University. He also received his master's degree from St. John's University in 2021. You can get in touch with Matthew by emailing
m.impelli@newsweek.com. Languages: English.
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Personal note:
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As we all know Navalny has been a thorn during Putin's ruling's. He's been again
poisoned and imprisoned off and on for many years. Had Putin been taken out this
Alexei Navalny could've been the next president of Russia and avoided all these God
forsaken on going issues - that would never have come to fruition in Russia to this day.
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Putin has got to be relieved of his position immediately or at least step down before
he's blown down by one of his own people. Dictator or Supreme Leaders are the issues
of the day in many parts of this world.
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Had Putin never come to power - this world would transform itself into something
other than waring. (comment by: Boats).
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The same applies to all the Middle East and their terroristic Muslim dictators.
Who would've thought our world would suffer such issues by crazed leaders?
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We the People of this World: "Must find Harmony and Independence without
such waring events - if not more will be damned to suffer - under these
so-called ruler's and/or better known dictators for eon's!
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Comments by: Boats