Death of Alexeï Navalny: Yulia Navalnaïa in Brussels, more than ever committed to the side of Russian opponents
The 27 foreign ministers of the European Union are meeting in Brussels this Monday, February 19. Alexeï Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnaïa, is invited to this meeting during which relations between the EU and Russia as well as support for Ukraine are to be discussed.
Yulia Navalnaïa, the wife of Alexei Navalny during the Munich Security Conference, in Munich, Germany, Friday, February 16, 2024. AP - Kai Pfaffenbach
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European foreign ministers invited Yulia Navalnaïa to speak at the start of the part of the meeting devoted to Russia and Ukraine, says RFI correspondent in Brussels,
Pierre Bénazet.
For them, welcoming Alexeï Navalny's widow is highly symbolic.
And to concretize their support for its fight for democracy and the rule of law, they believe that the best way is to intensify their support for Ukraine. The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, recalls that for the EU, the main person responsible is Russian President Vladimir Putin: “
We must send a message of support to the Russian opposition. We must continue to support the Russian people who want to live in freedom. And to pay tribute to Navalny and honor his memory, I will propose to ministers to rename our human rights sanctions regime with his name and call it: the sanctions regime against human rights violations Navalny's man, so that his name will be forever inscribed in the work of the European Union in the defense of human rights.
»
And five days before the second anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, the Europeans are in the process of putting in place a thirteenth set of sanctions against Russia, with a list of 200 sanctioned people and entities.
Yulia Navalnaïa more than ever on her feet
In this video published on social networks at midday, Yulia Navalnaïa says that she will continue her husband's work.
And then it came to Alex Navaly. Продолжать бороться за нашу с вами страну. It will be sent to you today. pic.twitter.com/aBOIvcYHHk
— Yulia Navalnaya (@yulia_navalnaya) February 19, 2024
-“
Three days ago, Vladimir Putin killed my husband, Alexeï Navalny. Putin killed the father of my children
»
- “
With him, (Putin) wanted to kill our hope, our freedom, our future
”
During his imprisonment, Alexeï Navalny was “
manhandled, cut off from the world
” and “
yet he did not give up
”, she recalled.
- “
My husband could not be broken, and that is why Putin killed him
,” said Yulia Navalnaya.
She promised to find out “
who carried out this crime
” and under what circumstances. “
I will continue the work of Alexeï Navalny. I will continue for our country, with you. And I call on you all to stand close to me (...) It is not a shame to do little, it is a shame to do nothing, it is a shame to let oneself be frightened
,” he said. she declared.
Access to the body of the opponent still impossible
In Russia, those close to Alexeï Navalny were once again deprived of access to the opponent's remains for the third day in a row.
According to Ms. Iarmich, the Investigative Committee, responsible in Russia for the main criminal investigations, affirmed that “
the verifications linked to Navalny's death were prolonged
”, without specifying the deadlines. “
The cause of death is still undetermined. They lie, play for time and don’t even hide it
,” criticized Kira Iarmich.
Evgeni Smirnov, a lawyer from the specialized NGO Pervy Otdel, believes that investigators can legally keep the body of a person who died in prison for up to 30 days: “
The body of Alexeï Navalny is therefore entirely under the power of the investigator (...) It is very easy to find legal reasons to keep the remains for months, or even longer.”
Also note this reaction from the Kremlin which speaks of odious statements regarding Western accusations. The spokesperson for the Russian presidency specifies that an investigation is underway and has not yet made it possible to reach any conclusions on the death of the Russian opponent.
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