‘If they kill me it changes nothing,’ said Navalny in 2020

An unpublished testimony recorded in 2020 made by Alexei Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest political opponent who died in prison in suspicious circumstances last month, was released on Wednesday (local time). He talked to Jacques Maire, then a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, in this interview in Berlin, Germany, in December 2020. Four months ago, Navalny had been under treatment in Germany after being poisoned with Novichok, a nerve agent developed by the former Soviet Union. "There are other people who are ready to stand (in) my place," he said.

In the interview released by the French daily Libération and LCI on Wednesday, Navalny said, "There are millions of people who don't want to live in a country where the whole power is just in one (man's) hands,” arguing that his activities represent these people.

The Russian opponent shared his view of concerns about his absence, saying, “They know how to operate without me because I spent a lot of time every year in prison, so they are accustomed to working without me." "There are other persons who can lead,” he said of his team. One month after he had this interview, he was put under arrest upon his arrival in Russia. After serving more than three years in prison, he passed away on Feb. 16.

On Wednesday, Navalny's wife, Yulia Navalnaya, said on YouTube that anti-Putin citizens should raise their voices on the March 17 Russian Presidential Election Day, suggesting that like-minded opponents should write Alexei Navalny's name on their voting ballots.


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