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A few days ago, Navalny was arrested again in Moscow. Again for having organized a so-called illegal demonstration. The demonstration was organized because he and other opposition parties were refused to stand for election in the local elections on September 8. This despite the fact that they had enough signatures to stand for election

This morning it was also reported that Navalny was hospitalized after something that could be poisoning. This after 3 days in prison.

Alexei Navalny Dangerous for Putin

Navalny is seen as Putin’s biggest and perhaps only challenger. He runs a blog where he asks critical questions of Russia under Putin. He is perhaps best known for his commitment to corruption and revelations.

In 2018, Navalny would run for president, but was arrested and convicted of corruption in a case many believe was purely political. The issue was seen by many as a mite trust to remove Putin’s main challenger before the election.

Especially among younger Russians, Navalny has support. The part of the population that is best at using digital media and obtaining information from sources other than the state-controlled media.

Political repression

Imprisonment and the killing of political opponents and critical journalists have unfortunately been common in Russia under Putin’s rule. Examples of this are:

• Sergei Yushchenkov, 2003: Opponent of Russia’s war in Chechnya . In opposition to Putin and registered his own party a few hours before he was shot and killed outside his own home in Moscow.
• Yuri Shchekotsjikhin, 2003 : Died in hospital after what many believe was poisoning. He uncovered corruption in the FSB and the Russian judicial system. Also wrote critical articles regarding Russia’s war in Chechnya .
• Aleksandr Litvinenko, 2006 : Critical of the regime. Accused the regime of corruption and human rights violations. Poisoned by the radioactive substance polonium-210 in London.
• Anna Politkovskaya, 2006 : One of several journalists in Novaya Gazeta killed. She wrote critical articles about the war in Chechnya . Shot outside his apartment in Moscow
• Natalia Estemirova, 2009: Russian human rights activist. Among other things, she worked on human rights violations in Chechnya. She was dragged into a car and later found executed in a nearby forest.
• Sergei Magnitsky, 2009 : Killed in prison when he was beaten and did not receive medical attention afterwards. Was allegedly arrested for tax evasion. He was in the process of exposing large-scale corruption among government officials.
• Boris Nemtsov, 2015 : Critical of Russia’s war in Ukraine, corruption and authoritarian rule. Shot on an open street in Moscow. A man from Chechnya was later convicted of carrying out the murder against payment of 15 million rubles. Who was behind the payment has never been known.
• Jelena Grigorjeva, 2019: Recently she was found shot and strangled near her home in St.Petersburg. She was a well-known LGBT activist.

Right-wing radical and undemocratic

This is how professor of political science Bernt Hagtvet described Putin during NRK’s live program “Fascism in 200 minutes” which aired on both TV and radio in the autumn of 2017.

The description is in my ordinary right. Putin’s Russia is, as I see it, a country where democracy has poor conditions. Where candidates are allowed to stand for election if they are supporters of the regime or do not pose a real threat. Any opposition that is a threat is defeated.

I do not agree with everything Alexei Navalny stands for. But for me it is important to have a functioning democracy. It is necessary to have an independent press, an independent judicial system and a political system in which the people have a real choice.