Alexei Navalny campaigned tirelessly against official corruption in Russia and died in a remote Arctic prison in February 2024 while serving a 19-year sentence. file | Photo courtesy: Reuters
Excerpts from a memoir written by the late Russian opposition leader alexey navalny It was revealed that he believed he would die in prison.
the new Yorker The magazine published the excerpt on Friday (October 11, 2024) in anticipation of the release of “Patriot” on October 22, 2024.
Navalny was the President Vladimir PutinRussia’s staunchest and most prominent enemy and campaigned relentlessly against official corruption in Russia. He died in Far Arctic Prison In February 2024, he served a 19-year sentence on charges including running an extremist group, which he described as politically motivated.
He was jailed in 2021 after returning from Germany, where he was recovering from nerve agent poisoning, which he blamed on the Kremlin, and has since been given three prison terms. Russian authorities have vehemently denied any involvement in both the poisoning and his death.
“Patriot” was announced in April by publisher Alfred A. Knopf, who called it the late statesman’s “last letter to the world”.
According to Mr. Knopf, Navalny began work on the book while recovering from the poisoning and continued writing it both in and out of prison in Russia.
Elaborating on his coping strategies during captivity, Navalny said he would “imagine, as realistically as possible, the worst thing that could happen.” And then (…) accept it. For him it was like dying in prison.
“I will spend the rest of my life in jail and die here,” he wrote on March 22, 2022.
“There will be no one to say goodbye… all anniversaries will be celebrated without me.” I will never see my grandchildren,” he wrote.
Although he accepted this fate, Navalny’s memoir reveals a firm stance against official corruption in Russia.
“My approach to the situation is certainly not one of reflective passivity. “I’m trying to do everything I can from here on out to end authoritarianism (or, more politely, to contribute to ending it),” he also wrote on March 22, 2022. Was written.
In an excerpt published on January 17, 2024, a month before his death, Navalny answers the question asked by his fellow prisoners and prison guards: “Why did you come back?”
“I don’t want to abandon or betray my country. If your commitments mean something, you should be willing to stand up for them and make sacrifices if necessary,” he wrote.
As well as capturing the isolation and challenges of his imprisonment, Navalny’s writing is also notable for its humour. The late dissident recalled a bet with his lawyers on the length of the new prison sentence: “Olga calculated eleven to fifteen years. Vadim surprised everyone with his prediction of exactly twelve years and six months. I Estimated seven to eight years and was the winner.”
He also expressed surprise at the absurdity of “being made to sit for hours on a wooden bench under Putin’s portrait” as a “disciplinary activity”.
Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, said in a statement released by the publisher in April 2024 that the book is a testament not only “to Alexei’s life, but also to his unwavering commitment to the fight against dictatorship”, adding that his story The sharing will “inspire others to stand up for what is right and never lose sight of the values that really matter.”
He also said that the memoir has already been translated into 11 languages and will “definitely” be published in Russian.
published – October 13, 2024 10:45 am IST