Western Media and western leaders are exactly what they claim Putin and Trump for that matter to be. Believing serial liars reports is a very poor choice when seeking truth.

IMHO, the Western attention and potential "sanctions" should be enough to make Putin, supposedly a smart guy, LESS likely to assassinate Navalny.

"The For-What-It's-Worth" Department: The U.S. Human Rights Commission reports almost all the information that Chris Paul does, but with a completely different "spin"--not accusing Navalny of being "a Russian asset" and poisoning himself: Here is their report: Alexei Navalny
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Alexei Navalny

Detained Since: January 17, 2021.

Charges: Violation of probation, fraud, creation of an extremist community; calls for extremism; financing of extremism; involvement of minors in dangerous acts; the creation of an NGO encroaching on the rights of citizens; and the rehabilitation of Nazism.

Sentence: 19 years in a high-security prison colony, a fine of 1.7 million rubles, 3 years of restricted freedom, and a 10 year ban on internet use.

Biography: Alexei Navalny is a Russian opposition politician, a prominent anti-corruption activist, and one of the most famous critics of the Kremlin. In 2011, he created the Anti-Corruption Foundation

(FBK), which has released numerous investigations into corruption among Russia's top officials, prominent politicians, and businessmen. FBK quickly gained a reputation as one of the largest and most famous anti-corruption non-governmental organizations in Russia, and its activities were funded by private donations. Navalny was also a candidate for the Moscow mayoral election in 2013.

Navalny has more than six million YouTube subscribers, and his content has received more than a billion views. Through his social media channels, he and his team have published material about corruption in Russia, organized political demonstrations, and promoted his campaigns. In a 2011 radio interview, Navalny described Russia's ruling party, United Russia, as a "party of crooks and thieves

," which became a popular epithet among the Russian opposition community.

Russian authorities have responded to Navalny's work with various kinds of persecution, including the initiation of politically motivated cases. In 2013, Navalny was found guilty in the so-called "Kirovles case" and sentenced to five years of probation. In 2016, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled

that during this process, "the criminal law was interpreted arbitrarily and with unforeseen consequences [...], which led to a manifestly unreasonable outcome of the trial." After the ECtHR ruling, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation overturned the verdict. Nevertheless, in May 2017, the case was retried, during which the shortcomings noted by the ECtHR were not eliminated, and the exact same verdict was issued.

In 2014, Navalny was convicted in another politically motivated criminal case, the so-called "Yves Rocher case," and sentenced to three and a half years of probation. The ECtHR called

the decisions of the national courts in this case "arbitrary and manifestly unfounded," but the Russian authorities ignored its ruling.

In December 2016, Navalny announced his intention to run for president of Russia in the March 2018 elections. A year later, the Central Election Commission refused to register him as a candidate. The reason for the refusal was Navalny's conviction in the Kirovles case, which according to a law adopted in 2014, made it impossible for him to run for president until 2028.

In August 2020, Navalny was seriously poisoned in Russia with the nerve agent Novichok. With the permission of Russian authorities, Navalny, who was in a coma at the time, was transported to Germany for treatment. A December 2020 report
by The Insider

and Bellingcat was published, implicating agents of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) in the poisoning. Citing a lack of evidence, Russian authorities refused to investigate his poisoning, which almost cost him his life. On June 6, 2023, the ECtHR recognized that the Russian authorities did not conduct an effective investigation into the poisoning of Alexei Navalny in 2020.

After recovering in Germany, Navalny returned to Moscow on January 17, 2021, where he was immediately detained. He was accused of violating the terms of his probation in the Yves Rocher case, and the suspended sentence was replaced with a real term. Navalny was sent to the Pokrov penal colony in February 2021, where he filed a formal complaint accusing the prison authorities of torture
through sleep deprivation. Navalny's legal team also publicly raised poor medical treatment

for their client and his apparent loss of sensation in his spine and legs.

On June 9, 2021, the Moscow City Court arbitrarily recognized the Anti-Corruption Foundation and the Citizens' Rights Protection Foundation associated with Navalny as "extremist" organizations, despite their peaceful activities. Criminal cases have been initiated against several of their former employees for participating in the activities of these so-called "extremist organizations," and as a result, many of have left Russia for their safety.

In September 2021, authorities opened an additional criminal case against Navalny and his associates under the trumped-up charge of creating an "extremist association." On March 22, 2022, the Lefortovo District Court of Moscow delivered its verdict in a makeshift courtroom where Navalny was held, at Pokrov penal colony. The court found him guilty of "fraud on an especially large scale" and "contempt of court". Navalny was blamed for allegedly siphoning off approximately $25,000 USD from donations to organizations he founded. Amnesty International analyzed

his case and concluded that this prosecution was politically motivated and based on the arbitrary application of law.

Throughout 2021, Navalny was the recipient of the Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom's 2021 Boris Nemtsov Prize for Courage, the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy's 2021 Moral Courage Award, the Casimir Pulaski Foundation's 2021 Knight of Freedom Award, and the 2021 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought awarded by the European Parliament. Additionally in 2021, he was recognized in Time Magazine's list of the "100 Most Influential People

."

After this sentencing, Navalny was transferred from the Pokrov penal colony to high-security colony No. 6 in the same region, where he is expected to serve his punishment from the last verdict. Shortly after his arrival at the new facility, Navalny immediately began to receive reprimands from the prison authorities. Calls to his wife were prohibited. In August 2022, after he announced a trade union for convicts of the "Industrial Zone", he was placed in a penal isolation cell, in which he had already been 11 times. He was deprived of the right to attorney-client privilege and prevented from reading documents from lawyers. Mistreatment by prison authorities continued; the colony did not give Navalny his wife's letters, and sick cellmates were moved in with him. Navalny subsequently got sick, and the prison administration did not give him medicine. He lost weight. In February 2023, Navalny was transferred to a cell-type room (a prison inside a prison), which means no long visits, a reduction in short visits, and a limited number of parcels and money.

In 2022, the documentary film Navalny

, directed by Daniel Roher, was released. The film covers Navalny's career and the events surrounding his poisoning. It was produced by HBO Max and CNN Films. The premiere of the film took place on January 25, 2022, at the Sundance Film Festival, where it received critical and audience acclaim and won the Audience Award in the US Documentary film competition and the "Festival Favorite" prize. The film also received a nomination for Best Documentary at the 95th Academy Awards and won the Award for Best Political Documentary at the 7th Critics' Choice Documentary Awards.

On May 25, 2023, Navalny was tried at the Moscow City Court on several charges, including creating an extremist community, calling for extremism, financing extremism, involving minors in dangerous acts, creating an NGO that violates citizens' rights, and rehabilitating Nazism. He was given ten days to review 196 volumes of the criminal case. On July 20, 2023, the prosecutor asked for a 20-year sentence for Navalny in a special regime colony. On August 4, 2023, the Moscow City Court sentenced Navalny to 19 years in a special regime colony under articles on the creation of the extremism community, calls for extremism and the financing of extremism.

Alexei Navalny is reported to have DIED IN CUSTODY on February 16, 2024.

Advocate: Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)

Advocacy Partner:Freedom House

Updates:

On September 10, 2023, it was reported

that Alexei Navalny was on a list of potential candidates for a prisoner exchange between Russia and the United States (September 10, 2023, Wall Street Journal). The Russian government responded the claim was just "speculation" in a statement
made two days later (September 13, 2023, Agence France Presse).
On September 11, 2023, Vladimir Kara-Murza published an Op-Ed in the Washington Post entitled "Change will come to Russia — abruptly and unexpectedly
," which called for full transparency from the Russian government on past and present rights abuses, and referenced an article
written by Alexei Navalny one month prior (September 11, 2023, Washington Post; ).
On September 21, 2023 it was reported via Alexei Navalny's Instagram account that Navalny had been placed in "punitive solitary confinement
" one day after his previous solitary confinement had ended (September 22, 2023, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty).
During a closed trial held on September 26, 2023, a Moscow court rejected
Alexei Navalny's appeal to overturn his sentence. Navalny was not permitted to leave the maximum security penal colony he was being held in and attended the trial via videolink. It was reported that he would be moved to a different penal colony following the trial (September 26, 2023, Associated Press).
Following the rejection of his appeal, Navalny's Twitter account reported on September 27, 2023, that he was to be transfered
to a "single cell-type room" for one year (September 28, 2023, Kyiv Independent).
In early October 2023, Alexei Navalny was considered to be one of the possible
contenders for the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize, along side Ilham Tohti, Narges Mohammadi, and others (October 5, 2023, TIME; October 6, 2023, France24). Narges Mohammadi was ultimately announced
as the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate (October 6, 2023, Nobel Foundation).
On October 5, 2023, imprisoned Russian opposition leaders, including Alexei Navalny and Vladimir Kara-Murza, published a statement
on Navalny's website calling for political prisoners to stage a one-day hunger strike on October 30, a day rememberance for victims of Soviet era political repression (October 5, 2023, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty).
On October 13, 2023, three laywers representing Alexei Navalny were arrested
on "suspicion of belonging to an extremist group". That same day, Navalny appeared in court for a hearing on a lawsuit he filed against the penal colony in which he is currently being held (October 13, 2023, New York Times).
On February 16, 2024, the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service reported
that Alexei Navalny had died after suddenly feeling ill while walking outside in the prison yard and falling unconscious. They report that an ambulance was called but paramedics were unable to revive him (February 16, 2024, Reuters; New York Times; Associated Press). In response to reports of his death, his wife, Yulia Navalnaya, called for the Russian government to be held accountable for their actions during a speech
at the Munich Security Conference (February 16, 2024, C-SPAN).
Numerous officials and organizations released statements in response to his death.

President Joe Biden

gave remarks expressing outrage over Alexei Navalny's sudden death and condolences for his family, colleagues, and supporters. Vice President Kamala Harris responded to reports of Navalny's death during her remarks at the Munich Security Conference (February 16, 2024, White House; YouTube). Prior to a meeting with the External Affairs Minister of India in Munich, Secretary of State Antony Blinken also gave remarks
in response to reports of Navalny's death (February 16, 2024, U.S. Department of State).
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives who released statements include advocate Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX), Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ), Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), and Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL) (February 16, 2024, U.S. House of Representatives). A joint statement was released by Chair Joe Wilson (R-SC) and Ranking Member Steve Cohen of the Helsinki Commission
(February 16, 2024, U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe). On February 22, 2024, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) published an op-ed
in Newsweek commemorating Navalny (February 22, 2024, Newsweek).
Members of the U.S. Senate who released statements include Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Ben Cardin
(D-MD), Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Senate Human Rights Caucus Co-Chair Sen. Chris Coons
(D-DE) (February 16, 2024, U.S. Senate).
U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation Lynne Tracy also released a statement
in response (February 16, 2024, U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Russia).
International organizations and officials who released statements include the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
, the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, the Spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office, a group of 20 UN Experts, the Council of Europe's Congress President Marc Cools, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Vice-President Josep Borrell, and the United Kingdom's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(February 16, 2024, OSCE; UN; OHCHR; COE; European Commission; EEAS; GovUK).
Organizations which released statements include Freedom House
, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights, National Endowment for Democracy
Other officials who released statements include Colorado Governor Jared Polis
(D) (February 16, 2024, Office of Governor Jared Polis).