Russian Opposition Leader Navalny Refuses to Give Up Despite Poor Health and Imprisonment
On January 17, 2023, celebrated Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny released a letter on his Instagram account to mark two years since his imprisonment in Russia. In the letter, Navalny vows to “fight as long as it takes” to save his country from “the most shameless and deceitful villains.”
Navalny, 46, was arrested in Russia after receiving medical treatment in Germany following a poisoning attempt in August 2020. He was subsequently convicted of fraud and contempt and was sentenced to nine years in prison.
In his letter, Navalny says that he will never hand over his country and that he will do everything possible to act according to his convictions. He notes that any form of opposition is important under the current conditions, no matter how “symbolic it may be.”
The Russian Justice rejected an appeal by Navalny’s lawyers in November and confirmed the sentence of nine years in prison that was imposed on him. Navalni was examined last week by a doctor after hundreds of doctors denounced his precarious state of health in an open letter to President Vladimir Putin. The opponent believes that the objective of the prison services is to make the prisoner sick so that he has no choice but to collaborate.
Navalny reassures that Russia is his country, where he was born, raised and has a family. He concludes his letter by saying, “I will never give up my country.”
