The name of Alexei Navalny can now be added to a list that was already far too long: Anna Politkovskaya, Natalia Estemirova, Stanislav Markelov, Anastasya Babyrova, Magomed Yevloyev, Boris Nemstov, Alexander Litvinenko, Sergei Magnitsky, and many more, murdered for daring to speak the truth about Vladimir Putin’s criminal enterprise, which masquerades as a government.
The World Liberty Congress condemns the murder of Alexei Navalny. This is a devastating loss and our thoughts are with his family. Nalvany bravely took on the Russian state, exposing the kleptocracy at its heart.
He knew the risks that carried, and chose to stay and fight. He inspired millions of people around the world with his vision of a democratic Russia.
Let his message never be forgotten.
There are still some in the west, with the luck to live in democracies, who will attempt to defend Putin. They will say he is not an assassin, but a strategist. They will say the violence he has repeatedly unleashed on the world is provoked by the victims – be they Russian dissidents, or neighboring countries who attempted to assert their sovereignty.
Just last week, Tucker Carlson sat back and allowed Putin to deliver a rambling and ridiculous lecture on Russian nationalism and Russia’s role in the world. But nationalism, or patriotism- are mere covers for Putin and his cronies. In truth, what drives them is nothing more than criminality and terror.
No western politician can say that this was unexpected. Extinguishing Alexei Navalny’s life was always the plan.
The World Liberty Congress acknowledges one simple truth: we cannot give up in the fight for freedom and democracy. Our members know assassination, imprisonment, intimidation. But we show courage and strength in standing up to terror.
We mourn Alexei Navalny as one of our own. And we vow to offer everything to help the thousands of Navalnys in Russia and all over the unfree world.
This weekend marks the 10th anniversary of the Ukrainian revolution, when millions of Ukrainians decided they would take no more bullying and coercion from Moscow.
Can we look those Ukrainians in the eye today? Can world leaders extend their sympathies to Yulia Navalnaya and say that they stand with her, her children, and Alexei’s young and committed colleagues? Can they really say, without shame, that they have done all they can?
We will never stop doing all that we can. And we call on everyone who believes in liberty to join us and stand with us in solidarity until every nation is free from the rule of autocrats.
Signed by the Executive Council of the World Liberty Congress
Garry Kasparov (Europe)
Masih Alinejad (Middle East)
Leopoldo Lopez (Latin America)
Carine Kanimba (Africa)
Joey Siu (Asia)
