Navalny “paid for his courage with his life,” says Scholz

WORLD Navalny “paid for his courage with his life,” says Scholz 20 million Putin's most important critic, Alexei Navalny, has died in custody. Politicians and intellectuals around the world are mourning. Chancellor Olaf Scholz praised the opposition activist's courage, for which he had to pay "with his life". This year there will be presidential elections in Russia. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) described the alleged death of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny as “depressing” and “terrible”. It was very brave that Navalny went back to Russia. Now he has “paid for this courage with his life,” said Scholz in Berlin. We know exactly what kind of regime is in power in Moscow. Russia is “no longer a democracy”. Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) has described the death of imprisoned opposition politician Alexei Navalny, reported by Russian authorities, as a “crime”. By “opposing Russian President Vladimir Putin and fighting for freedom and human rights, Navalny has shown great courage,” said the FDP politician on Friday on the online service X (formerly Twitter). “He had to pay for that with his life. Today is a black day. My thoughts are with his family.” Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) wrote on X that Navalny was “a hero” for him. “Through his resistance, he made it clear to the world early on that Putin is a ruthless criminal in office. His warning should have been heeded much earlier. Rest in peace." Russian Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov describes the death of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny as a “murder”. The journalist told the Reuters news agency that he believed that the prison conditions led to Navalny's death. Russia's most prominent Kremlin critic died on Friday in the penal colony in Russia's polar region, prison authorities said. The reasons for his death are therefore being investigated.