LAST UPDATE | 19 Feb
TÁNAISTE MICHEÁL MARTIN has said that the presence of Alexei Navalny’s widow at a meeting with EU foreign ministers today is a reminder of “the repressive and oppressive nature of the regime in the Russian Federation”.
Martin will be among those who will meet Yulia Navalnaya today, after the death of 47-year-old opposition leader Alexie Navalny on Friday.
Navalny died in an Arctic prison after spending more than three years behind bars, prompting outrage and condemnation from Western leaders and his supporters.
Over the weekend, Russian courts jailed dozens of people detained at events commemorating the Kremlin critic.
Martin said today that’s Yulia Navalnaya’s presence in Brussels was “significant”, adding that it serves as an example of what Ukraine is fighting for.
“In Russia, it’s quite shocking when you stand back and just reflect on the degree to which the fundamental spirit of of the human being has been suppressed in Russia,” he said.
“And that will lead on to our discussion on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, because that’s what the people of Ukraine don’t want. They know what freedom of speech is, they know what a better life is, in terms of a life in a democracy. The last thing they want is to become part of the Russian Federation, and to live under such circumstances, as the Navalny family and many, many others have had to live under. ”
He added: “It’s very close to the second anniversary of that invasion, and the necessity for Europe to make sure there are no more obstacles or roadblocks to providing the necessary aid and support to Ukraine that they need to prevent Russia from gaining ground.”
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he would welcome Yulia Navalnaya to the bloc’s Foreign Affairs Council today.
“EU Ministers will send a strong message of support to freedom fighters in Russia” and “honour” Navalny’s memory, he added on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday.
Navalny was Russia’s most prominent opposition leader and garnered a huge following as he campaigned against corruption under President Vladimir Putin.
In the hours following the announcement that her husband had died, Navalnaya, who had not seen him in two years, said she held Putin personally responsible.
She called on the international community to “unite and defeat this evil, terrifying regime”.
Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Navalnaya’s words “will make us feel the threat that weighs on Russian citizens and on every region of our Europe”, where “violence, brutality, and war have been shamefully and irresponsibly returned”.
The Táinaiste has described Navalny as a “champion of democracy and free speech”.
“His death is yet another indication of the ongoing deterioration in respect for human rights and the rule of law in Russia,” Martin said in a statement.
Navalny’s relatives have been refused access to his body for a third day, saying his mother was “not allowed” into a morgue where it may be held.
Russia’s prison service said Navalny died after a walk in his prison on Friday.
His mother, Lyudmila, travelled to the remote colony on Saturday, but has still not been allowed access to her son’s body.
“Alexei’s mother and his lawyers arrived at the morgue early in the morning. They were not allowed to go in. One of the lawyers was literally pushed out. When the staff was asked if Alexei’s body was there, they did not answer,” Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said on social media.
Russian authorities have suppressed memorials and tributes to Navalny and courts have jailed dozens of mourners.
Rights groups say police have detained more than 400 people at gatherings paying tribute to the opposition figure.
In Saint Petersburg alone, courts handed short jail terms to 154 people detained at events commemorating Navalny in violation of Russia’s anti-protest laws, according to details of rulings published by the city’s court service over the weekend.
Rights groups and independent media outlets reported a handful of similar sentences in other cities across the country.
Anti-Kremlin demonstrations or public shows of opposition to the regime are effectively illegal in Russia under strict military censorship rules and laws against unapproved rallies.
In Moscow, the US ambassador visited a makeshift shrine to Navalny at the Solovetsky Stone on Sunday, a monument to political repression that has become a major site of tributes for Navalny.
At a separate makeshift memorial known as the “Wall of Grief”, a bronze monument to Soviet-era repression, police had set up fences in a bid to ward off mourners.
Several dozen police officers could be seen standing nearby, but some people were allowed to enter through the fence and lay flowers, an AFP reporter saw.
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