Political analysts voice meaning of actions in memory of Alexei Navalny* for Southern Russia and countries of Caucasus

In Southern Russia, law enforcers are suppressing the laying of flowers in memory of Alexei Navalny*and persecuting activists, although the law does not prohibit such citizens’ actions, lawyers point out. In Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia, rallies in memory of Alexei Navalny* were held by migrants from Russia, but for local activists, the death of the Russian oppositionist became an alarming reminder of the problem of state violence and the fate of political prisoners.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that after the death of Alexei Navalny*, Russian residents were being persecuted for attempting to lay flowers at monuments to the victims of repression.

Sergey Babinets, the head of the “Team Against Torture” (TaT)*, believes that if laying flowers in memory of Alexei Navalny* does not bother people, then it cannot be considered a violation of the law.

“Since February 16, 389 detentions have been recorded in 39 Russian cities at actions in memory of Alexei Navalny*,” Sergey Babinets noted.

Laying flowers in memory of the deceased person is not an unsanctioned mass event, emphasizes a lawyer from the “Memorial” Centre for Defence of Human Rights.

A Rostov-on-Don supporter of Alexei Navalny* believes that any activity associated with the oppositionist will be nipped in the bud.

Emin Guseinov, the executive director of the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS), suggests that the death of Alexei Navalny* should increase the attention of the international democratic community to the problem of political prisoners in authoritarian countries.

Ali Kerimli, the leader of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), believes that “the whole world should be shocked” by the death of Alexei Navalny*. Ali Kerimli considers it necessary to release political prisoners in Azerbaijan.

Human rights defender Nina Karapetyants notes that Russian migrants took part in an action in memory of Alexei Navalny* in Yerevan. The human rights defender believes that such actions could irritate the Kremlin, but will not affect the Russia’s policy towards Armenia.

The Kremlin reacts nervously to dissent, and the Yerevan action was no exception, political analyst Armen pointes out.

*On January 25, 2022, the “Rosfinmonitoring” (the Russian Federal Service for Financial Monitoring) included Alexei Navalny into the register of extremists and terrorists. He was a founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (known as FBK), an NCO that is included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in the register of NCOs performing functions of a foreign agent, recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation. Convicted on probation in a case on fraud. On February 2, 2021, a court in Moscow sentenced Alexei Navalny to 3.5 years of imprisonment in a penal colony. Later, new charges were brought against him, and his term of imprisonment was extended. In a penal colony, Alexei Navalny was charged with fraud and contempt of court and sentenced to 9 years of imprisonment. Furthermore, Alexei Navalny was also sentenced to 19 years of imprisonment in a case on disorganizing the penal colony, extremism, and rehabilitation of Nazism. In April 2023, Alexei Navalny announced that he faced life imprisonment in the case on terrorism. Recognized as a “prisoner of conscience.” Alexei Navalny’s offices, which previously operated in the Russian regions, are recognized in Russia as extremist organizations and included in the list of prohibited organizations.

**The “Team against Torture” (TaT, formerly the “Committee against Torture” – CaT) was created by the lawyers who had earlier worked for the CaT, which was included into the register of the NCOs performing the functions of foreign agents.