Navalny celebrates his birthday in the prison camp – sending an emotional message Mexico elects governors – historic change of power possible

Jailed Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny addressed the public with a personal message on his birthday, affirming that he would not lose heart despite the harsh prison conditions. “You have to be honest with yourself on your birthday,” Navalny, who turned 47 on Sunday, wrote in a message circulated on online networks.

“And I asked myself this question: Am I really confident or am I forcing myself to be? My answer is, I really am.” The prominent Kremlin critic, who is being held in a penal camp in the city of Vladimir, 200 kilometers from Moscow, said he has now served 16 prison sentences. According to his supporters, the authorities want to break the 47-year-old in this way.

“Obviously I’d rather not wake up in this den, but rather have breakfast with my family, get a kiss on the cheek from my kids, open my presents and say, ‘Wow, this is exactly what I dreamed of’.”

Navalny: “That would be the beginning of my defeat”

“But life isn’t like that,” Navalny continued. There would be no social progress and no better future if it weren’t for people willing to pay a price for being able to have a faith. “The day is coming when telling the truth and fighting for justice will be normal and safe in Russia,” Navalny wrote.

For the past year he had followed the plan “not to get hot-tempered and bitter, but to keep a relaxed attitude”. Otherwise, this would be “the beginning of my defeat,” he wrote.

Navalny’s wife: “You are a hero”

Navalny’s wife congratulated him in an emotional post on Instagram. In it, she described her husband as a “hero”. «It is very easy for me to wish my husband a happy birthday. I wish that he remains as he is – honest and uncompromising, an inspiration to tens of thousands of people. He possesses a strong character, confidence in people, a strong mind and a sense of humor. »Happy birthday, my dear! Strong, brave and free. You are a hero,” Navalnaya wrote. She shared a photo of herself and her husband.

Further proceedings are pending

Navalny is about to face a new trial in which he faces 35 years in prison on charges of “extremism”. The opponent of head of state Vladimir Putin received medical treatment at the Berlin Charité in 2020 after being poisoned, for which he blames the Kremlin.

After recovering, he returned to Russia in January 2021, was immediately arrested and later sentenced to nine years in prison for “fraud”. Through his support team, Navalny continues to send messages from prison describing the conditions of his detention and criticizing Putin and his invasion of Ukraine.

(tononline/dpa)