RIP Alexei Navalny, died today from APD

To the extent that there is any opposition to Vladimir Putin, "President of All the Russias (Including Ukraine)", it was led by Alexei Navalny, who died today, at the age of 47, after collapsing and losing consciousness at the a notorious 1K-3 penal colony in Kharp,.north of the Arctic Circle. Here is the last known picture of the deceased, taken on January 10th..

The Federal Penitentiary Service of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District said in a statement that Mr Navalny "felt unwell" after a walk, and lost consciousness almost immediately after returning to his cell. "The medical staff of the institution arrived immediately, and an ambulance team was called," the prison service said. "All necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, which did not yield positive results. Doctors of the ambulance stated the death of the convict. The causes of death are being established."

Walt can reveal that Mr Navalny died from APD -- Anti-Putin Disorder. That's what happens when you dare to oppose the all-powerful Putin. 

By far Russia's most famous opposition leader, Alexei Novalny rose to prominence more than a decade ago by lampooning the elite class round President Putin and voicing allegations of corruption on a vast scale. A Kremlin spokesman [There are no female spokesthingies in Russia. Ed.] said Mr Putin was informed of Mr Navalny's death, and that the prison service would look into it "in line with standard procedures." 

Mr Navalny's death is very similar to that of Sergei Magnitsky, whose murder in a Russian prison is detailed in two books -- Red Notice and Freezing Order by his friend Bill Browder, an American-born British financier and political activist. 

Just by coincidence [Walt is not all that prescient. Ed.], we devoted two posts on February 7th to the story of Messrs Magnitsky and Browder, to show what happens to those who defy President Putin and his gargantuan kleptocracy.

See "The lesson about Putin and the war on Ukraine we MUST learn from the murder of Sergei Magnitsky" and "The murder of Sergei Magnitsky explains why Putin invaded Ukraine and why he MUST be stopped!" 

On 17 January 2021, Alexei Navalny and his wife returned to Russia from Germany, where he had been in exile. He was taken into custody immediately, and in just over two weeks was tried, convicted and sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison. 

The events sparked massive protests that reached to Russia's farthest corners and saw more than 10,000 people detained by police. As part of a massive crackdown against the opposition that followed, a Moscow court in 2021 outlawed Mr Navalny's Foundation for Fighting Corruption as "extremist" -- a word now popular with American liberals and their lickspittle media.

On 24 February 2022, when the Russian dictator sent troops to invade Ukraine, Mr Navalny strongly condemned the war in social media posts from prison and during his court appearances. Less than a month after the start of the war, he was sentenced to an additional nine-year term for embezzlement and contempt of court in a case he and his supporters rejected as fabricated. 

The investigators immediately launched a new probe, and in August of 2023 Mr Navalny was convicted on charges of "extremism" -- there's that word again! -- and sentenced to 19 years in prison. After the verdict, Mr Navalny said he understands that he's "serving a life sentence, which is measured by the length of my life or the length of life of this regime." 

Now his life sentence is over. RIP. 

A documentary called Navalny that detailed his career, his near-fatal poisoning and his return to Moscow won an Academy Award for best documentary in March of 2023. Accepting the Oscar, director David Roher said, "Alexei, the world has not forgotten your vital message to us all: We must not be afraid to oppose dictators and authoritarianism wherever it rears its head."

Indeed.