VALLETTA (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Maltese are commemorating the death of Alexei Navalny, Russiàs main opposition leader, with Western leaders continuing to blame Navalny’s death on President Vladimir Putin. Navalny’s recent death in a penal colony above the Arctic Circle has sparked widespread condemnation of his 19-year prison sentence and raised concerns about human rights violations.
Protesters gathered outside the Russian Embassy in San Gwann on Monday evening, in a protest following Navalny’s death. This was the second commemoration in three days, following last Saturday’s commemoration by the Nationalist Party, Maltàs Opposition Party, which laid a commemorative photo of Alexei Navalny in front of the Russian embassy. None of the protests were organized by Russians living in Malta.
Nationalist Party MP and Foreign Affairs Shadow Minister Beppe Fenech Adami, along with PN’s International Secretary Beppe Galea, said that the Nationalist Party was commemorating the death of Navalny. Fenech Adami said Navalny was silenced and it is the world’s duty not to forget him. “Putin’s regime killed Alexei Navalny to silence the opposition. He was killed because he was a voice in favour of democracy, a voice in favour of freedom. He was killed because he spoke the truth. They pursued him until they killed him,” Fenech Adami said.
Yesterday evening, Rule of Law NGO Repubblika held a protest outside the Russian embassy. Repubblika President Robert Aquilina said, “Alexei Navalny did not die, he was killed by the Putin regime. It was a political murder, a horrible assassination.” He commended Navalny’s work in criticizing the widespread corruption under the Putin regime, comparing his death to Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galiziàs assassination.
“We know what Navalny’s mother is going through because we suffered the same fate when they killed a journalist to try and silence her work in uncovering corruption in Malta,” he said. Aquilina also stated that the same as what is happening in Malta, Putin did not silence his critics but fired them up to uncover the truth.
Meanwhile, Maltàs foreign minister Ian Borg has called for an “independent and transparent” investigation to establish the circumstances of Navalny’s death.
-photo Agenzia Fotogramma –
(ITALPRESS).
