Alexeï Navalny: a death in secret, tributes contained
Citizens came out across Russia on Friday February 16 to pay a final tribute to the opponent convicted of “extremism”. Others remained walled in indifference. Especially since the police are watching.
Rally in front of an impromptu memorial for the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, held at the monument to victims of political repression in St. Petersburg, February 16, 2024, after Navalny's death in his Arctic prison. AFP - OLGA MALTSEVA
By: Anissa El Jabri Follow
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From our correspondent in Moscow,
Last night's editions of the television news were laconic. Out of 45 minutes of the flagship news of the first channel, 28 seconds were devoted to the death of Alexeï Navalny; 28 seconds dedicated to reading the press release from the prison administration.
This Saturday morning, not a word on the front page of
Komsomolskaya Pravda
or
Rossiskaya Pravda
, nothing on the website either. The other media, most often, also cite the press release from the prison administration, as well as the Kremlin, which storms in the face of international reactions deemed “
unacceptable
”.
Only the independent and exile press devotes space to the death of the opponent, often emphasizing that Alexeï Navalny had just completed his 27th stint in solitary confinement. In total, of his 1,126 days of detention, he spent a third in this mode of punishment.
Last night, the rallies reported across Russia consisted mainly of silent lines to lay flowers, most often at monuments to victims of political repression. These gatherings all ended, more or less quickly: late in the evening, images were still arriving of large numbers of police officers taking away all those still near the scene.
Last night in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Krasnodar, Vladivostok in particular, unknown figures in hoodies were seen picking up the flowers left and putting them in trash bags. In Khabarovsk in the Far East, an independent media outlet notes: "
only traces of candles now remain
."
A few stubborn people came to replace red carnations in the Russian capital last night on the “Solovki stone”, the memorial dedicated to the victims of Soviet repression in the center of the capital. In the early morning, in the heavy snow that had fallen in recent days, the monument and flowers were guarded by police officers on duty.
Read alsoRussia: Westerners point to the “responsibility” of the Kremlin in the death of Alexeï Navalny
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