Biden stands in the middle of Navalny's widow, Yulia (right), and his daughter Dasha (Reuters)
US President Joe Biden met with the widow and daughter of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian prison last week, where he was serving a 19-year prison sentence.
A statement issued by the White House said that Biden met yesterday, Thursday, with Yulia and Dasha Navalny in San Francisco, in the United States, “and expressed his sincere condolences to them for their horrific loss,” and said that Navalny was “a man of amazing courage.”
Biden confirmed that the United States will unveil new sanctions on Russia on Friday, in response to Navalny's death and coinciding with the two-year anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Biden, who is visiting California as part of his election campaign in the state to win his party's nomination for the upcoming presidential elections, also expressed his admiration for the unparalleled courage that the late Russian oppositionist had, and for Navalny's struggle against corruption and for freedom and democracy in Russia, he said.
He stressed that Alexei Navalny's endeavors "will continue through those who mourned him in Russia and around the world and are fighting for freedom, democracy, and human rights," according to a White House statement.
Last Friday, Russian prison authorities announced the death of Navalny, the leader of the Russian opposition and the most prominent political opponent of the Russian leadership, in the Arctic Circle prison.
A statement issued by the prison authorities of the Yama region in the Arctic said in a statement: “On February 16, 2024, prisoner Navalny A.A. felt ill after a walk and lost consciousness almost immediately. Ambulance teams confirmed the prisoner’s death and its causes are being verified.”
Navalny was arrested in Russia in January 2021 upon his return to the country after receiving treatment in Germany as a result of a poisoning that the Kremlin is accused of being behind.
In March 2022, he was sentenced to 9 years in prison on fraud charges, charges of which the Russian opposition member continued to maintain his innocence.
Last August, a Russian court sentenced him to an additional 19 years in prison on charges of “extremism.” The European Union then condemned the ruling and called on Moscow to release him “immediately.”
Source: Al Jazeera + agencies