No sign of life from Putin's most influential opponent
Alexei Navalny is internationally recognized as the most influential opposition figure against Putin. He has been sentenced to over 30 years in prison since 2021. He is usually connected via video at his trials. Now suddenly not anymore. His supporters fear for his life.
The team of imprisoned Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny still has no sign of life from the 47-year-old, who is in poor health. There is still no news, said Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh. The lawyer of President Vladimir Putin's opponent has been trying to contact him in the prison camp for five days. However, the lawyer has not been allowed to see him.
Navalny's team had raised the alarm on Friday after the opposition figure was not connected via video as usual during court hearings. Prison staff had explained the failure of a video link with a lack of electricity, according to Navalny's team. Yarmysh announced on the short messaging service X that he was particularly worried about Navalny because he had become ill in his cell last week.
Letters from or to Navalny have also not been delivered for a week. Navalny is being held in a prison camp in the city of Kovrov in the Vladimir region, around 260 kilometers east of Moscow. Despite his imprisonment, he is considered the most influential opposition politician against Putin.
In August 2020, the most famous opposition politician was almost killed in a poison attack. He quickly had to be flown to a specialist clinic in Germany. For weeks, doctors at Berlin's Charite hospital treated him and fought for his life. Despite warnings, he tried to re-enter Russia in January 2021. He was arrested at the airport and has since been sentenced to more than 30 years in prison. Internationally, he is considered a political prisoner.
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Despite repeated attempts by Navalny's lawyer, there has been no contact with Vladimir Putin's opposition figure since his last court appearance. Russia's human rights organizations have expressed concern over Navalny's health and well-being, as he has not appeared via video link in court for several days, contradicting prison officials' claims of a power outage.
Source: www.ntv.de
