“I am absolutely upset”, reacts his French lawyer William Bourdon

“I’m absolutely devastated.”reacts Friday February 16 on franceinfo Me William Bourdon, the French lawyer of Alexeï Navalnay, the first Russian opponent of Vladimir Putin whose death was announced at midday. “In life we ​​meet exceptional people, the meeting with Alexei was exceptional”says the lawyer.

“It is a privilege to meet in your life a man who was a righteous man, who had the grace, the beauty, the clairvoyance, the tragic lucidity of a righteous man”adds the lawyer. “Obviously everyone trembled when he shared his resolve against all odds to return to Moscow. He knew the risks he was running”. For William Bourdon, “Alexei Navalny is a man who sacrificed his life to fight injustice”.

“Immense anger”

The lawyer also feels “immense anger”. Vladimir Putin has “made to die slowly” Alexei Navalny “in conditions of absolute cruelty”he assures. “He had anchored in his heart and body this conviction that if he did not set an example, Putin’s regime of predation and oppression could be eternal.”. Alexei Navalny “was for the public good”he says.

“What is certain is that he had terrible health problems” and that his “conditions of detention were atrocious”assures William Bourdon. “His last messages left little doubt that the worst was possible”underlines the lawyer. “I am not at all sure that we will have any clarification for many days, assuming that his courageous lawyers can have any.” One of his lawyers in Russia flew to Kharp, the location of the prison where Alexei Navalny died.