Scholz condemns Russian repression on Navalny’s second anniversary

• Olaf Scholz praised Alexei Navalny on the second anniversary of his attempted poisoning.
• Navalny was sentenced to 11 1/2 years in prison after being found guilty of parole violations, fraud, and contempt of court.
• The 46-year-old returned to Russia in 2021 after being treated in Germany for what Western laboratory tests revealed was an attempt to poison him.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz praised imprisoned Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny On the second anniversary of his attempted poisoning and condemned Russia’s crackdown on free expression.

Scholz said in a video message on Saturday that he spoke with Navalny while he was recuperating in a Berlin hospital and found him to be a brave man who wanted to return to Russia to fight for democracy, freedom, and the rule of law.

However, upon his return, Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critic within Russia, was immediately imprisoned.

“The war that Russia started against Ukraine is a war that also has consequences for Russia,” Scholz said. “Freedom and democracy were already endangered before. But now, freedom of expression is much more endangered and many fear to say their own opinion.”

That was why remembering Navalny was so important, Scholz added, because he was fighting for his belief that “one lives best in a democracy and state governed by the rule of law.”

Navalny was sentenced to 11 1/2 years in prison after being found guilty of parole violations, fraud, and contempt of court. He claims that all of the charges were made up to imprison him and stymie his political ambitions.

The 46-year-old returned to Russia in 2021 after being treated in Germany for what Western laboratory tests revealed was an attempt to poison him with a Soviet-era nerve agent in Siberia. Russia denies attempting to assassinate him.

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