Russia: Year After Navalny’s Death, Supporters Targeted
(Berlin, February 20, 2025) – Dozens of arrests on the first anniversary of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s death are just the tip of the iceberg in the Kremlin’s continued crackdown on his supporters, Human Rights Watch said today.On February 16, 2025, Russian law enforcement officers detained at least 42 people at gatherings commemorating Navalny on the first anniversary of his death in prison. Throughout the year, the authorities have used their extensive arsenal of repressive tools to try to suppress public outcry and erase Navalny’s political legacy.“Russia’s notoriously vague and broad anti-extremism law is used to prosecute those who call for free and fair elections, expose corruption, advocate on behalf of political prisoners, or appear to identify as Navalny supporters,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The Kremlin sees the exercise of basic human rights as a threat that must be stopped, something Navalny knew well, and for which he paid the price.”Navalny died in a remote prison in Russia’s far north while serving a 19-year sentence on bogus politically motivated charges. The authorities threw him behind bars in 2021, as soon as he returned to Russia from Germany, where he had been …read more
Source:: Human Rights Watch
