Thousands of Russians participated this Friday in the funeral of the opposition leader Alexei Navalnydespite strict police measures and warnings from authorities about the consequences of participating in unauthorized acts.
«Navalni was the conscience of the nation. And although I am afraid, I have chosen awareness over fear and that is why I am here.he told EFE Svetlana65 years old.
He added that the legacy of the opponent, who was 47 years old, “will not die.”
Another Muscovite assured that Navalni “was a good person and not just a good politician.”
“People followed him because he not only told the truth but believed in what he said”he claimed.
Politicians attend the funeral
Among the personalities who attended the funeral were Yevgeny Roizmanformer mayor of the city of Yekaterimburgoin the Uralsas well as some foreign diplomats, including ambassadors of USA, Germany y France.
He also came to Navalny’s farewell in a church in the southeast of the Russian capital. Boris Nadezhdincandidate for the Russian Presidency, recently vetoed by the Electoral Commission of this country.
“People are afraid, but they want to overcome it”The opposition politician told EFE.
Nadezhdin assured that Navalny’s death is “a tragic event for millions of Russians who supported him.”
«We had a common goal, that democracy triumphed in Russia and that Russia became a normal country»he assured.
Unprecedented police deployment
Navalni’s farewell took place amid strict security measures and an unprecedented police deployment in the neighborhood of Marino.
Both next to the temple, where the burning chapel is installed, and in the cemetery, where the politician will be buried, metal fences were installed and a significant police force has been deployed.
Multiple surveillance cameras and other devices that can serve as internet and mobile phone signal inhibitors were also placed on the cemetery lampposts.
The thousands of Navalni’s followers waited patiently with flowers in their hands for the arrival of the coffin and when the politician’s body was introduced into the church they began to chant his name.
Later, pacifist shouts could be heard like “You weren’t afraid, and neither were we.” y “Not to the war”.
After the wake in the church, which lasted just over half an hour, without the majority of those gathered being able to access the interior of the temple, the politician’s body was transferred to the cemetery of Borísovo for his burial.
Kremlin warnings
The Kremlin warned today that those who participate in unauthorized demonstrations during the funeral held this Friday for the Russian opposition leader will be punished.
“We want to remember that there is a law that must be followed: any unauthorized assembly will constitute a violation of the law”said the spokesman for the Russian Presidency, Dmitri Peskovin his daily press conference.
He added that those who participate in unauthorized gatherings will be punished in accordance with current laws.
Peskov thus responded to a question about the intention of Navalny’s followers to organize events in his memory throughout the country and abroad.
The Kremlin spokesperson also did not want to evaluate Navalni’s figure as a politician or send a message to the opponent’s family, something that journalists asked him during the press conference.
Russian state agencies did not report on the opposition’s funeral.
After having survived a poisoning attributed to the Russian authorities, Navalny, who went into exile in Germany, returned to Russia and was arrested upon arrival and then accused and sentenced in 2022 to nine years in prison for “fraud and contempt of Russian courts.” .
On February 16, 2024, the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service reported his death in a prison located near the Arctic Circle.
Those close to and co-religionists of Navalni, awarded in 2021 with the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Conscience of the European Parliamentthey directly accuse the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, to order what they consider the “murder” of the opponent, founder. EFE (I)
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