Kaptur Statement on Reported Death of Alexei Navalny at The Hands of Vladimir Putin’s Russian State

Toledo, OH  –  Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), Congressional Advocate for Alexei Navalny's wrongful detention case under the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission’s Defending Freedoms Project, released the following statement following Alexei Navalny’s reported death at the hands of Vladimir Putin's Russian state:

“Reports indicate that imprisoned Russian Freedom fighter Alexei Navalny has died in prison, at the hands of Vladimir Putin’s Russian state. Navalny stoically endured bitter treatment in the frigid Arctic prison to which he was condemned by Putin for speaking openly and honestly about the brutality of Putin’s regime,” said Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09). “Coming just one month before Russia’s rigged Presidential elections, this tragedy reveals the cruelty and barbarity of Putin’s dictatorial rule. Navalny had consistently berated the corruption of the Putin regime, often with humor, and made no apology for his incisive, biting criticism that reached millions of devoted followers who now carry his legacy. From his jail cell, Navalny’s valor, sanity, and eloquence laid the awesome cornerstones for a free Russia that in his memory may one day come. May God cradle Alexei Navalny, a warrior for Liberty crying out from the depths of Tyranny.”

# # #