Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the death of top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in prison Friday was a warning to the world and called for clarification on what happened.
“The death of Alexei Navalny during his detention is another sad page that acts as a warning to the international community,” Meloni said in a statement, offering her condolences and expressing hope that “this disturbing event will be fully clarified”.
Navalny died Friday in the Arctic prison colony where he was serving a 19-year term, Russia’s federal penitentiary service said
He lost consciousness after a walk and could not be revived by medics, the prison service also said.
The 47-year-old was Russia’s most prominent opposition leader and won a huge following with his criticism of corruption in Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
‘Never Forgive’ Navalny’s Death
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also pledged on Friday to “never forgive” following an earlier announcement of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s death in prison.
“Alexei, we will never forget you. And we will never forgive them,” Tusk said on X (formerly Twitter), referring to the death of the Kremlin critic.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had opened an investigation into the death.
Navalny’s press secretary Kira Yarmysh said his team had not been informed of his death.
