Navalny’s supporters continued to pay tribute to him in several European cities.
Brussels:
The widow of Alexei Navalny will meet European foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, EU officials announced, as a Russian court jailed dozens of people detained at events commemorating the Kremlin critic.
The 47-year-old opposition leader died in an Arctic prison on Friday after more than three years in prison, sparking anger and condemnation from Western leaders and their supporters.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he would welcome Yulia Navalnaya to the EU Foreign Affairs Council on Monday.
He added on Sunday on X (formerly Twitter) that “EU ministers will send a strong message of support to Russia’s freedom fighters” and “memory” Navalny.
Navalny is Russia’s best-known opposition leader, having won a large following for his anti-corruption campaign under President Vladimir Putin.
Within hours of the announcement of her husband’s death, Navalnaya, who had not seen him for two years, said she held Putin personally responsible.
She called on the international community to “unite to defeat this evil, horrific regime.”
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that Navalnaya’s words “will make us feel the threat faced by Russian citizens and every region of Europe” and that “violence, brutality and war have made a shameful and irresponsible return.”
Mourners jailed
Russian authorities have suppressed commemorations and tributes to Navalny, and courts have imprisoned dozens of mourners.
Rights groups said police detained more than 400 people at a rally honoring opposition figures.
In St. Petersburg alone, courts sentenced 154 people detained at Navalny commemorations to short prison terms for violating Russia’s anti-protest law, according to details of rulings released over the weekend by the city’s court service.
Human rights groups and independent media reported a number of similar verdicts in other cities across the country.
Anti-Kremlin demonstrations or public opposition to the regime are effectively illegal in Russia under strict military censorship rules and laws against unauthorized gatherings.
In Moscow, the U.S. ambassador on Sunday visited a makeshift shrine to Navalny at the Solovetsky Stone, a monument to political repression that has become the main site for honoring Navalny.
At a separate makeshift memorial called the “Wall of Sorrow,” a bronze memorial to Soviet-era repression, police set up barriers to keep mourners away.
AFP reporters saw dozens of police standing nearby, but some people were allowed to enter through the fence and lay flowers.
Lula urges caution
While many Western European leaders have directly or indirectly blamed Putin for Navalny’s death, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva warned against a rush to judgment.
Lula, who is attending an African Union summit in Addis Ababa, told reporters it was important to avoid “speculation” and wait for the results of the autopsy.
“If you judge now and say I don’t know who ordered the killing, but it wasn’t them, you have to apologize afterwards. Why rush to charge?”
Lula said Navalny may be ill or have health problems and warned against “taking lightly” the murder charges.
Lula has been criticized for being soft on Putin. Putin is the leader of the BRICS countries. BRICS represents Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, but has recently been expanded to include several other emerging powers.
Brazil’s president has been critical of the U.S. and European response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying Kyiv is responsible for the conflict and refusing to join international sanctions against Moscow.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday accused Western leaders of being “absolutely unacceptable” and “hysterical” in their response to Navalny’s death.
Navalny’s supporters continued to pay tribute to him in several European cities on Sunday.
In Germany, people laid flowers and candles at a memorial in front of the Russian Embassy in Berlin.
In Romania, a similar tribute took place outside the Russian Embassy in Bucharest.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
