Alexei Navalny, Russia’s foremost opposition leader, was transferred to a prison hospital for “vitamin treatment” earlier this week. The Putin-critic has been on a hunger strike since 31 March, when prison officials refused him medical treatments for his back and leg, injuries he claims stemmed from Putin’s assassination attempt.
Back in August, Putin tried to have him poisoned on a flight in Siberia. He was flown to Germany for treatment. Then in February, he was promptly arrested upon returning to Russia. A mock trial sentenced him to 2 1/2 years in prison on trumped-up charges. Navalny used the trial (which has an acquittal rate of 0.5%) to denounce Putin as a coward, the justice system as a sham, and the judge as a Nazi interrogator. (Surprisingly, his speech was carried on state-run television.) Tens-of-thousands of protesters took to the streets, and as many as 11,000 were arrested. At detention camps, many were beaten, denied access to food, water, and toilets, and shocked with tasers. Human rights lawyers began documenting the abuses but then became victims themselves. Political analysts say Putin abandoned even the pretense of legal procedures against the protestors, effectively pushing Russia deeper into totalitarianism.
Russia is an oligarchy, where a few people make all the important decisions. Democracy threatens to up-end Putin’s order of things, so allowing Navalny to foment opposition was unthinkable. Yet Putin still seeks popular support, so he has to play a balancing act, suppressing opposition without making them into martyrs or losing too much public confidence.
Meanwhile, Navalny’s doctor said he is at elevated risk of cardiac arrest. The US and EU have vowed repercussions if he dies, and reports say that tens-of-thousands are preparing to march if that happens. In any event, Navalny’s followers are still gearing-up for a summer of protests ahead of the September parliamentary elections, where they hope to get reformist candidates elected. As Navalny said at his trial, “Despite the fact that our country is built on injustice… tens of millions of people want the truth and sooner or later they will get it.”
Sources
Scott Neuman, “Navalny Moved to Infirmary in Russian Prison After Doctor Warns He Could Die Soon,” NPR, 19 Apr 2021; accessed from https://www.npr.org/2021/04/19/988686525/navalny-moved-to-infirmary-in-russian-prison-after-doctor-warns-he-could-die-soo
Robyn Dixon, “Pro-Navalny Protesters Swept Up in Mass Arrests Allege Wide-scale Abuses,” Washington Post, 28 Feb 2021, A22.
Robyn Dixon, “Navalny Loses in Court but Still Gets the Last Word,” Washington Post, 21 Feb 2021, A18; also https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russia-navalny-court-putin/2021/02/19/0985c016-706a-11eb-8651-6d3091eac63f_story.html
Isabelle Khurshudyan, “Navalny Supporters in Russia Regroup for Spring Offensive,” Washington Post, 14 Feb 2021, A20.
Photo: Shamil Zhumatov, Reuters