Navalny's Death Still Casts Shadow     02/17 06:17

   

   MOSCOW (AP) -- Mourners gathered in Moscow Monday to mark two years since 
the death in custody of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, under the 
shadow of a Kremlin crackdown and just two days since a new analysis reinforced 
suspicions that he was killed by poisoning.

   Navalny died in an Arctic penal colony on Feb. 16, 2024, while serving a 
19-year sentence that many believed to be politically motivated. His death at 
the age of 47 left the Russian opposition leaderless and divided, struggling to 
build an effective or united front without one of its most visible and 
charismatic figures.

   On the second anniversary of Navalny's death, we look at the latest 
investigation into its cause and the continuing political repercussions, both 
within Russia and beyond.

   Across Russia, Navalny's supporters pay their respects

   Navalny's mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, and his mother-in-law, Alla 
Abrosimova, were among the mourners laying flowers on his grave. A mound of 
bouquets rose above the heavy drifts of snow that blanketed Moscow's Borisovsky 
Cemetery.

   Representatives from several European embassies also paid their respects, 
watched by a conspicuously high security presence. Later, a small choir 
gathered to sing by Navalny's graveside.

   Addressing the crowd, Lyudmila Navalnaya restated her belief that her son 
was killed by the Russian authorities, a scenario which has also been backed by 
several European countries in recent days. "We knew that our son did not simply 
die in prison," she said. "He was murdered."

   The Kremlin has denied the allegations, saying that Navalny died of natural 
causes.

   Flowers were also laid at the memorial to the victims of political 
repression in St Petersburg. Access to the site was later blocked with 
temporary fences, local news outlets reported.

   European nations believe Navalny was poisoned

   The anniversary coincides with the release of a joint statement by five 
European countries, which said that Navalny was poisoned by the Kremlin with a 
rare and lethal toxin found in the skin of poison dart frogs.

   The foreign ministries of the U.K., France, Germany, Sweden and the 
Netherlands said on Saturday that analysis in European labs of samples taken 
from Navalny's body "conclusively confirmed the presence of epibatidine." The 
neurotoxin secreted by dart frogs in South America is not found naturally in 
Russia, they said.

   A joint statement said: "Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to 
administer this poison."

   In a written tribute to Navalny on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron 
also linked the Kremlin with the opposition leader's death.

   "Two years ago, the world learned of the death of Alexei Navalny. I pay 
tribute to his memory," Macron wrote on social media. "I said then that I 
believed his death said everything about the Kremlin's weakness and its fear of 
any opponent. It is now clear that this death was premeditated.

   "Truth always prevails, while we await justice to do the same."

   Moscow has vehemently denied its involvement in Navalny's death, saying that 
the politician had become unwell after going for a walk.

   When asked about the allegations by journalists on Monday, presidential 
spokesperson said that the Kremlin does "not accept such accusations."

   "We consider them biased and unfounded. In fact, we resolutely reject them," 
he said.

   Saturday's announcement came as Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnaya, attended 
the Munich Security Conference in Germany. She said she had been "certain from 
the first day" that her husband had been poisoned, "but now there is proof."

   "Putin killed Alexei with a chemical weapon," she wrote on social media, 
describing the Russian leader as "a murderer" who "must be held accountable."

   Navalny was the target of an earlier poisoning in 2020, with a nerve agent 
in an attack he blamed on the Kremlin, which always denied involvement. His 
family and allies fought to have him flown to Germany for treatment and 
recovery. Five months later, he returned to Russia, where he was immediately 
arrested and imprisoned for the last three years of his life.

   Russia's opposition is struggling to start a new chapter

   Navalny's closest allies, as well as other key members of Russia's 
opposition, now continue their fight from exile.

   Many have been handed lengthy prison sentences in absentia in Russia and are 
unable to return home. Some have been designated "terrorists and extremists" by 
the authorities, a designation that was also applied to Navalny in January 2022.

   Yet Russia's opposition has failed to form a united front and a clear plan 
of action against the Kremlin. Instead, rival groups have traded accusations 
that some see as efforts to discredit each other and vie for influence.

   In one small victory for opposition activists, Europe's leading human rights 
body, PACE, announced in late January the creation of a new body -- the 
Platform for Dialogue with Russian Democratic Forces -- tasked with giving 
opposition Russians a voice and a formal platform to engage European lawmakers.

   It has been heralded as a victory for anti-war Russians, but also attracted 
criticism as the body was not elected democratically. Members of Navalny's 
anti-corruption organization are also absent from the group

   In a statement to mark Navalny's death, Russian members of the Council of 
Europe's human rights body, PACE, said that Navalny's death was "an inevitable 
link in a chain of systemic crimes by the Kremlin regime against its own 
citizens and the citizens of foreign states."

   "Alexei Navalny gave his life for a free Russia," the statement said. "We 
are obliged to ensure that his death was not in vain."