The French political sphere reacts to the announcement of the death of Alexeï Navalny, the Russian opponent, on Friday, in an Arctic prison in which he was serving a 19-year sentence.
:quality(50)/2023/07/07/64a7df4c5fe71_placeholder-36b69ec8.png)
Published
Update
Reading time: 2 min
:quality(50)/2022/04/20/phpmvfCrl.jpg)
Vladimir Putin’s main opponent in Russia, Alexei Navalny, died at 47. The announcement was made on Friday February 16 by the Russian Federal Prison Service. Alexei Navalny was incarcerated in a remote Arctic colony where he was serving a 19-year prison sentence for “extremism.” His death immediately provoked numerous reactions within the French political class, some going so far as to denounce “the Russian system of undemocratic oppression.”
Alexei Navalny “paid with his life for his resistance to a system of oppression”, reacted the French Minister of Foreign Affairs Stéphane Séjourné, on his X account. “His death in a penal colony reminds us of the reality of Vladimir Putin’s regime. To his family, his loved ones and the Russian people, France presents its condolences”added the head of French diplomacy.
“The symbol of resistance”
The President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, denounces a death “intolerable” Who “must make us all angry. Alexeï Navalny today becomes the symbol of resistance to the oppression that Vladimir Putin exercises on his people. My thoughts are with his family and all the resistance fighters who follow in his footsteps.”
The Minister Delegate for Europe, Jean-Noël Barrot, believes that “the death of Alexeï Navalny reminds us of the reality of the Russian regime and the oppression of democratic debate which rages there”. He adds : “In a democracy, a political opponent does not die in prison.”
The Renaissance MP and President of the European Affairs Committee, Pierre-Alexandre Anglade, goes even further in condemning Russia. This death is a “a signal sent to the world: that of a dictatorship ready to do anything to avoid collapsing in on itself.”
“Navalny was murdered by a system that does not allow contradiction,” reacts the First Secretary of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure. “It is the Russian people who are poisoned by state lies. It is the Russian people who are imprisoned by their own president. It is democracy which is condemned to death a few days before the vote”writes Olivier Faure, while elections are planned in Russia for the month of March.
“All this to silence him”
For MEP Raphaël Glucksmann, “Alexei Navalny was courage made a man. Putin and his henchmen poisoned him, deported then killed him precisely for this, he wrote on X. Tyrants cannot stand the courage that resists them. They are scared to death. This regime has been, since 1999, a killing machine.”
“Putin ended up killing Alexei Navalny after poisoning him, imprisoning him, putting him in solitary confinement, exposing him to the conditions of the northernmost prison in the Arctic, all to silence him,” reacts François Bayrou. “Thus end today, in full view of all, the opponents of the dictator,” concludes the president of Modem.
Still on X, the environmentalist deputy of Paris, Julien Bayou, denounces “the reality of the Putin regime, aggressor of Ukraine, imperialist, worthy heir of Stalin in terms of repression”. He adds :“Opponents are sent to remote Arctic penal colonies to die.”
The president of the National Rally, Jordan Bardella, wrote soberly on his X account: “This is tragic news for all defenders of human rights and fundamental freedoms.”