Justin Trudeau calls jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s death a ‘tragedy’
Ottawa:
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday called the death of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny a “tragedy” and said it exposed Russian President Vladimir Putin as “a monster”.
“This is a tragedy,” Trudeau told public broadcaster CBC.
“This really shows that Putin … will suppress anyone who fights for freedom for the Russian people. It lets the world know what a monster Putin really is,” he said.
Russian authorities previously stated NavalnyDied suddenly in an Arctic prison at the age of 47.
The shocking news comes as Putin prepares to extend his two decades of power in a carefully orchestrated presidential election in March.
NavalnyA charismatic lawyer, he is widely considered Russia’s top opposition leader and the only politician capable of rallying large crowds to take on the 71-year-old Putin.
Speaking to a group of Canadian business leaders, Trudeau praised Navalny’s “extraordinary courage” for standing up “for fundamental freedoms and democracy.”
He urged Canadians to “double and triple” in their determination to uphold those values and push back against Putin, “particularly on Ukraine,” and “in a world that is more challenging and more unstable than we have ever seen.” A very long time. “
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
