Munich, Germany – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference that all the facts of the death of Alexei Navalny must be established, “Russia must answer serious questions”.
Navalny died in correctional colony No. 3 in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, the regional department of the Federal Penitentiary Service reported on Friday. According to the department, on Friday Navalny felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness; medical workers from the institution immediately arrived at the scene, an emergency medical team was called, and all the necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, but did not yield positive results. The causes of death are being established. A commission from the central office of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia will be sent to the colony, the department’s press bureau reported.
“There is no information yet, all the facts must be established. Russia must establish all the facts, and answer very serious questions,” he said.
His statement was broadcast on the official NATO website.
Navalny ended up in prison after, in February 2021, his suspended sentence in the case of embezzlement of funds from Yves Rocher was replaced with real imprisonment due to violations of the suspended sentence regime.
In March of the following year, the Lefortovo Court of Moscow sentenced him, together with the previous case, to nine years in a maximum security colony for fraud and contempt of court (insulting the judge who tried him for slandering a veteran).
In May 2022, the Moscow City Court recognized the decision of the district court as legal, and in June Navalny was transferred from Correctional Colony No. 2 to maximum security penal colony No. 6 – both are located in the Vladimir region.
In August, the Moscow City Court found Navalny guilty in another case, about creating an extremist community, and sentenced him to a total of 19 years in a special regime colony. Subsequently, Navalny was transferred to serve his sentence in Yamal – to correctional colony No. 3 “Polar Wolf”.
