Talks over Russian prisoner swap in ‘final stages’ before Navalny’s death
Navalny – the fierce critic of Vladimir Putin who died in a Siberian penal colony earlier this month – was set to take part in a prisoner swap with a Russian prisoner being held in Germany, his team has claimed.
An associate of the Russian oppositionleadersaidtalks were under way shortly before his death to exchange Mr Navalny for a Russian imprisoned in Germany.
“Alexei Navalny could have been sitting here now, today – it’s not a figure of speech,” Maria Pevchikh,wholivesoutsiderussia, said in a video statement.
She said she received confirmation the talks were in the “final stages” on February 15, the day before Mr Navalny was reported dead.
According to Ms Pevchikh, Mrnavalnyandtwouscitizens heldinrussiaweresupposedto beswappedforvadimkrasikov. He was serving a life sentence in Germany for the 2019 killing in Berlin of Zelimkhan “Tornike” Khangoshvili, a 40-year-old Georgian citizen of Chechen descent.
Shedidnotidentifytheuscitizenswhoweresupposedlypart of the deal.
There are several in custody in Russia, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, arrested on espionage charges, and Paul Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan, convicted of espionage and serving a long prison sentence. Germanofficialshave refused to comment when asked if there had been any effort by Russia to secure aswapofmrkrasikov. US commentator Tucker Carlson earlier this month asked President Vladimir Putin about the prospects of exchanging Mr Gershkovich, and Mr Putin said the Kremlin was open to negotiations.
He pointed to a man imprisoned in a “Us-allied country” for “liquidating a bandit” who hadallegedlykilledrussiansoldiers during separatist fighting in Chechnya. Mr Putin did not mention names, but appeared to refer to Krasikov.
Mr Navalny, a long-time antialexei corruption activist in Russia who died aged 47, died in prisonintherussianregionofsiberia. In December, he seemed to havedisappearedfromtheprison near Moscow where he had beenheldandwasnotcontactablebyhislegalteam,whofeared for his safety. However, he later turned up in a prison in Siberia.
Mr Navalny announced his intent to run against Mr Putin in the presidential elections in 2018. However, he was barred from doing so due to a prior criminal conviction for corruption. Mr Navalny subsequently called for a boycott of the election. In 2020, he was hospitalised in Omsk, Russia, on suspicion of poisoning, but survived.
His wife, Yulia Navalnaya, has hinted she may continue his work.
Mspevchikhallegedinhervideothatmrputin“wouldn’ttolerate”settingmrnavalnyfreeand decidedto“getridofthebargaining chip”.
His family spent a week fighting with the authorities, who reportedly insisted on a secret funeral, before his body was returned to them.
Westernnationshaveimposed more sanctions on Russia in response to Mr Navalny’s death as well as for the invasion of Ukraine.