The struggle between freedom and dictatorship continues in many areas, and the most touching is the courage of individuals who risk their lives by resisting oppression. Jimmy Lai and other Hong Kong Democrats were jailed at the insistence of China, while the Kremlin slowly forced life out of Alexei Navalny.
The 44-year-old critic of Vladimir Putin has been dragging himself into the infamous IQ-2 prison in Russia since March 11 on charges of violating his parole on a previous rogue charge. He dared to recover in Germany after nearly dying after being poisoned by government agents. But he bravely returned to Russia, where he was arrested and imprisoned.
Mr Navalny was on a hunger strike after being denied treatment for other ailments. Alexey is dying now. “Given his condition, it’s a matter of days,” he said. Navalny spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said on Facebook.
The White House warned on Sunday that there would be ‘consequences’ if Mr. Navalny died, and President Biden said on Saturday that his treatment was “totally, utterly unfair.” But Mr. Biden sent mixed signals to Mr. Putin was sent off by inviting the autocrat he called a “killer” for a leader-to-leader summit, even as Navalny’s health in prison deteriorated.
The free world – if we can still use the locus in the waking era – must find its voice again on behalf of courageous dissidents such as Alexei Navalny and Jimmy Lai. It should become global household names, as Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Andrei Sakharov were during the Cold War. And let’s hope the White House is serious about ‘consequences’.