United Nations. After the death of Alexei Navalny, a staunch critic of the Russian Putin administration and opposition leader, in prison, the leaders of the United Nations and the world’s major powers have asked for an investigation into the incident. Navalny, who created the image of the strongest opposition leader in Russia in the last decade, died in prison, the prison administration said on Friday.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has demanded a “fully credible and transparent investigation into the circumstances of Navalny’s death in custody.” A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the Secretary-General was shocked by Navalny’s death.
Likewise, the United Nations Human Rights Office has demanded that the incident be investigated through an independent body. The office has mentioned in its statement that it has repeatedly raised the issue of Navalny’s imprisonment, which seems to be without reason. US President Joe Biden claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin was responsible for the incident and said that it should be investigated impartially.
UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk said the lengthy sentence handed down to Navalny last year showed Russia was using the court system for political purposes. “If someone dies in the custody of the state, there is international recognition that the state is responsible for that,” the United Nations said.
Speaking at the White House after the announcement of Navalny’s death, US President Joe Biden said that he was “surprised and outraged” by the incident. Praising the “heroism” of Navalny, who is a staunch critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Biden said that after being poisoned in 2020, Navalny could have stayed out of the country in exile, but he did not do so.
“What Putin was not, Navalny was,” Biden said of Navalny’s special abilities. “Make no mistake, Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death,” he added. From Munich, US Vice President Kamala Harris said that Putin’s death was “a sign of Putin’s brutality”.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Navalny’s death was a “great tragedy” for the Russian people. Britain’s foreign ministry has called the Russian embassy to hold Russian officials fully responsible for Navalny’s death.
Likewise, British Foreign Minister David Cameron warned that Russia will suffer the consequences of Navalny’s death. “Russia will have to bear the consequences,” Cameron said at the ongoing Munich Security Conference in Germany. Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics said that “the Kremlin brutally murdered Navalny”. Similarly, French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourn said that Navalny’s death “reminds us of the reality of Putin’s regime”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that critics of the Kremlin have been killed while fighting Russian forces for the past two years. Navalny was jailed in February 2021 for violating a 2014 sentence. He was accused in 2020 of not regularly reporting his condition to the police.