HRIC Statement on the Death of Russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny
Human Rights in China is deeply saddened to hear of the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in prison. His death mirrors the fates of Chinese political prisoners such as Liu Xiaobo, Cao Shunli, Peng Ming and countless others who gave their lives to fighting for freedom at home. Under an authoritarian regime, free speech and opposing views are the greatest threat to the powerful. Internal repression of human rights is as natural to the authoritarian order as is external aggression. Human rights is not an internal, isolated issue; it should be a concern of the entire international community.
Putin killed Navalny a month before the Russian presidential election in March. Only yesterday, he appeared to be in good health and spirits when he appeared at a court hearing. He was murdered because he offered Russian people an alternative to Putin, and made Putin afraid that others would heed his call. Just like Liu Xiaobo, he bravely chose to go back to his country, knowing that his life would be in grave danger. Despite numerous attempts on his life, Navalny remained unafraid to speak out. He saw it as his duty, and responsibility, to continue fighting back against Putin’s repressive regime. He said: “[Putin’s] United Russia is the party of corruption, the party of crooks and thieves. And it is the duty of every patriot and citizen of our country to make sure that this party is destroyed.”
Today, there are thousands of political prisoners around the world, imprisoned because they believe it is their duty to fight for their people and country. In China, as in Russia, freedom of speech is denied and any form of opposing thought is treated as a crime. Today, we cannot help but think of the many prisoners of conscience who remain in prison simply for daring to oppose the CCP, whose situation must not be forgotten or overlooked by the international community.
Alexei Navalny died as a great martyr to Russia, and the world must not turn a blind eye to his sacrifice. Human Rights in China strongly condemns the arbitrary detention of all political prisoners and human rights advocates. In honor of Alexei Navalny and all those who gave their lives to push back against authoritarianism, we must continue to fight for their dream of a free world.
Image credit: left, Pavel Golovkin/AP; right, Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters.