Don’t lose sight of the other Navalnys
Russia holds a three-day presidential election starting Friday, and the result is not in doubt: President Vladimir Putin has rigged the process to ensure he holds power for another six years, at least. This farce thus extends Russia’s tragedy, the most heartbreaking recent manifestation of which was the death of Alexei Navalny, the Russian dissident, in an Arctic prison after nearly three years under increasingly harsh physical and mental torment, including long periods in cramped solitary confinement. The best way to mark Putin’s reelection is by remembering Navalny - along with the fact that, as a political prisoner, he was far from alone, either in Russia, or around the world.
These are the other Navalnys. Among them is Washington Post Opinions contributor Vladimir Kara-murza, arrested two years ago for his strong criticism of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. A journalist, historian and political activist, Karamurza was absurdly accused of treason and sentenced to 25 years. Another principled prisoner in Russia is Ilya Yashin, a political activist, unjustly sentenced to 8 ½ years in December 2022 on charges of spreading false information about the Russian military.
In Cuba, dissident José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, has been repeatedly punished for imaginary offenses — with real prison sentences. Detained in 2021 amid a national uprising against the communist regime, he is currently serving a fouryear term at the Mar Verde prison in Santiago de Cuba. His family said they have not had contact with him for a year and reported he is in poor health.
Cuban authorities arrested Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, a founder of the San Isidro artists’ movement in Havana, about the same time they took Ferrer into custody. He is serving five years on charges of “insulting national symbols.”
A voice for the same ideals that motivated Navalny is Ales Bialiatski of Belarus, founder of Viasna, a group that since 1996
has fought for civil society and against human rights violations under the erratic autocrat, President Alexander Lukashenko. Bialiatski, a winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, was arrested in July 2021 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for purportedly bringing money into the country to support mass demonstrations against Lukashenko’s theft of the 2020 presidential election.
In Turkey, the government of autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has imprisoned philanthropist Osman Kavala for life on charges the European Court of Human Rights has described as based upon “an absence of facts, information or evidence.” Kavala was engaged in exclusively peaceful protest and organizing.
Salma al-shehab, the mother of two young children, a researcher at the University of Leeds, took time off to go home to Saudi Arabia. Shehab is a women’s rights activist and a Shiite Muslim, a persecuted minority in the kingdom. Saudi authorities detained her in 2021 after she posted on Twitter demanding freedom for Loujain al-hathloul, who campaigned for women’s right to drive and was incarcerated and tortured for it. Shehab’s sentence, 34 years in prison, later reduced to 27 years, is surely one of the most draconian ever for a single social media post.
There are more, from China to Egypt, from Iran to Myanmar. They are the victims of dictators and autocrats who cannot tolerate free speech and assembly. We cannot forget the other Navalnys.