A RUSSIAN COURT has rejected a lawsuit filed by the mother of Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died in prison in February, that claimed he received improper medical care when he died.
The prison service of the Yamalo-Nenets region, in North-Western Russia, said that on the day of his death, Navalny “felt bad after a walk” and almost immediately lost consciousness.
The cause of his death on 16 February has been described by officials as due to natural causes.
In a message on X, Navalny’s widow Yulia Navalnaya said the court in the town of Labytnangi “dismissed the case” brought by Lyudmila Navalnaya.
She added: “There is only one reason (why the case was dismissed) – at the trial, they had to provide documents and videos about what happened on 16 February.”
Сегодня в Лабытнанги был суд по иску мамы Алексея к колонии о ненадлежащей оказании медицинской помощи. Суд это дело прекратил. Причина одна - на суде они должны были предоставить документы и видео о том, что происходило 16-го февраля
— Yulia Navalnaya (@yulia_navalnaya) March 21, 2024
Ivan Zhdanov, head of the Anti-Corruption Foundation founded by Navalny, said the court in Labytnangi, near the Arctic prison where he died, turned down the case because it said only Navalny could be the plaintiff.
“Alexei filed claims against the colonies many times for failure to provide medical care. The claims were denied. Now that he was killed, his family’s claim is being denied with mocking wording,” Zhdanov said on the Telegram messaging app.
Navalny, the most persistent foe of President Vladimir Putin, was serving a 19-year sentence.
He mobilised huge anti-government protests against Putin before being jailed in 2021.
He was poisoned with a Soviet-era nerve agent the previous year and accused Putin of being behind the attack – something the Kremlin denied.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say