Yulia Navalnaya, the wife of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, said all those responsible for the death of her husband “will be held accountable.”
Navalny, 47, was serving a lengthy prison term when he was announced dead by Russian prison authorities on Friday.
His team said it could not confirm the prison service’s announcement until his lawyer visited the IK-3 prison colony in the settlement of Kharp, where the politician was being held.
“I don’t know whether to believe or not this terrible news that we’re only receiving from government sources. You all know that we cannot trust the Putin government. They lie constantly,” Navalnaya said in an address at the Munich Security Conference.
“But if this is true, I want Putin and everyone around him, his friends and the government to know that they will be held accountable for what they did to our country, to my family and my husband,” she said. “And that day will come soon.”
“And I want to call on the entire world community, everyone in this room, people all over the world, so that we all unite and defeat this evil, defeat the horrific regime of Russia,” Navalnaya said.
“This regime and Vladimir Putin must be held accountable for all the horrific things they have been doing to our country in recent years,” she added.
Navalny’s health had significantly deteriorated since being imprisoned in early 2021 after a nearly-fatal poisoning.
He did not appear sick and did not address his health in a video shared by the independent broadcaster Sotavision — the outlet said the footage was filmed on Thursday of Navalny appearing in court via video link.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, announced “a set of investigative and operative measures” to establish the circumstances surrounding Navalny’s death.
