A Moscow court ordered the arrest of Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, at a hearing held in absentia on Tuesday as part of a broad Kremlin crackdown on dissent.
Navalnaya was ordered to be detained by the Basmanny District Court on suspicion of “participating in an extremist community” – an allegation that was also brought against several more journalists who covered the activist’s mysterious death.
Navalny’s widow, who fled Russia in 2021 and has resided in Germany since 2023, was placed on an international wanted list and would be arrested immediately if she went back to Russia, according to The New York Times.
Navalnaya mocked the court’s ruling on X, arguing that Putin ought to face legal consequences instead of her. “When you write about this, please do not forget to write the main thing: Vladimir Putin is a murderer and a war criminal,” she wrote. “His place is in prison, and not somewhere in The Hague, in a cozy cell with a TV, but in Russia – in the same colony and the same 2 by 3 meter cell in which he killed Alexei.”
Kira Yarmysh, her spokeswoman, characterized the court’s decision as an acknowledgement of her “merits.”
The most formidable political opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Mr. Navalny died in February in an Arctic prison colony while serving a 19-year sentence for radicalism which he had denounced as politically driven. Russian authorities have not released any information about Navalny’s death other than stating that he felt unwell after going for a walk.
Navalnaya has pledged to keep up Putin’s actions and accused him of causing her husband’s death. Officials from Russia have categorically denied any role in the activist’s poisoning and demise.
The decision made by the Moscow court is “an arrest warrant against the desire for freedom and democracy,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on X, pointing out that Navalnaya is continuing her husband’s legacy.
