The death in prison of Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalni, reported yesterday by the Russian penitentiary, caused outrage and a strong impact at the Munich Security Conference (MSC), an annual forum for debate between heads of government and foreign ministers and Defense of several countries, as a reminder that Vladimir Putin multiplies signs of feeling secure and powerful. Several leaders directly accused him of the death. Amid condemnations and warnings about the consequences of notable participants – among them the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris -, the intervention on the stage of the given by Navalni, Iúlia Navalnaia, intervention that was not on the agenda.
“For many years we have not been able to believe either Putin or his Government; they lie constantly But if this is true, I want to tell Putin and his friends, all his staff, all his entourage, all his Government, that they will not go unpunished; I would like them to know that they will be punished for what they have done to our country, my family and my husband. They will be brought to justice and that day will come soon,” said Yulia Navalnaya, who spoke in Russian.
In front of an audience of diplomats and rulers, who after her short speech filled her with applause, Navalny’s wife called on the international community to unite and fight against the “horrible regime” in Russia. “I was wondering if I should stay here in front of you or if I should go back with my children and I was wondering what Aleksei would have done in my place, and I’m sure he would have stayed here in this scenario”, said Iúlia Navalnaia. The couple married in 2000 and had a daughter, Dària, now 23, and a son, Zahar, 15.
At the Munich conference, which began yesterday and continues until Sunday with 180 leaders, ministers and representatives from a hundred countries, the vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris, spoke strong words about this fact. Harris, who was going to this meeting in the Bavarian capital for the third consecutive year, said that, if the death of Aleksei Navalni was confirmed, “it would be another sign of the brutality of Russian President Vladimir Putin”.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and Josep Borrell, head of European diplomacy, accused the Russian president in a joint statement issued in Munich: “Aleksei Navalni was slowly killed by President Putin and his regime, which there is nothing they fear more than the dissent of their own people”. Von der Leyen and Borrell recalled how they had repeatedly demanded from Russia guarantees of safety and health for Navalny in the face of “repeated ill-treatment, unjustified and illegal disciplinary measures, and harassment amounting to physical and psychological torture by the penitentiary authorities”, and assured that they will spare no effort so that those responsible are punished.
More diplomatic but also firm was the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, who told reporters in an aside at the beginning of the Munich conference that Moscow “has very serious questions that must be answered about the circumstances of this death”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was in Berlin yesterday afternoon to sign a security agreement with Germany, said he had no doubts about the death. “I regret the death of Navalny in a Russian prison. For me it is obvious that he was murdered”, he stated in a press conference with the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz. The chancellor was less specific: “I met Navalny here in Berlin when he was recovering from the poisoning attack and I spoke to him about his great courage to return to his country. And he has probably now paid for this courage with his life.”
