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Alexeï Navalny once again accuses Putin of wanting to kill him

 


The opponent of the Russian president is speaking to the press for the first time since his poisoning attempt on August 20. In a long interview published in "Der Spiegel", he looks back on the attack he was subjected to and on his political future.

Alexei Navalny has so far communicated on Instagram with photos of his convalescence in Germany and messages intended to reassure his supporters. The "undisputed leader of the anti-Putin opposition", as the Spiegel site nicknamed him in 2013, precisely chose the pages of the weekly to speak on Thursday about the poisoning attempt he made. object on August 20. "I claim Putin was behind the crime, and that is the only explanation I have." The tone is set, Navalny has no plans to surrender.

He thanked his host country, where he had to take up residence in spite of himself: “I feel immense gratitude to all Germans. I know it sounds a bit pathetic now but Germany has become a special country for me. " He also referred to his surprise interview with Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Berlin Charity Hospital and said their conversation had no political content.

At 44, considered the symbol of dissent from the Russian president, Alexeï Navalny is ironically satisfied to have become a guinea pig: "The Russian leadership has developed such a propensity for poisoning that it will not stop anytime soon. . My medical history will always be informative. ” Because despite the difficulties in walking, in helping himself with a glass of water, and the multiple scars he has on his neck, the politician knows that "the resistance" has only just begun: "My work, now, c is to be the guy who isn't afraid. And I'm not afraid! […] I will not give Putin the gift of not coming back to Russia. 

Navalny has established himself on the Russian political scene for twenty years, with one goal in mind: to denounce the corruption of the leaders, the "criminal money" of the oligarchs and to propose an alternative to the United Russia presidential party. He became known through his blog "Nalvany" in 2008, and developed an original technique: to acquire shares or shares in large Russian companies in order to be invited to general meetings, and to ask embarrassing questions about finances. of State. In 2013, he stood for municipal elections against the outgoing mayor of Moscow, supported by the Kremlin, Sergei Sobyanin. He obtained 27% of the vote, a score anything but negligible in a country where the elections are manipulated.

Navalny was also campaigning for a regional election at the time of his poisoning. His trip to Tomsk, in Western Siberia, was aimed at establishing his “smart voting” strategy: voting against United Russia. 50% of the votes went to his candidate, 45% to that of Novosibirsk.

This is not the first time he has been targeted by the Kremlin. But if he has been tracked since 2012, Navalny would never have thought he would be poisoned with Novichok, an extremely potent chemical agent manufactured in Russian state laboratories. "The most impressive thing is that you don't feel any pain, but you know you are dying."

Despite his physical weakness, Navalny plans his return: "The most important thing is to prepare for the elections to the Duma [the lower house of the Russian Parliament, note] in 2021." Living in exile, he never dreamed of it, he says. “I am a politician who calls for concrete actions, all of the risks of which I must myself share. That’s why I’ll return to my channel [on YouTube, followed by over 4 million subscribers] when I’m in Moscow. ”

On Thursday, a Kremlin spokesman reacted by accusing Navalny of working with the CIA. He also rejected Putin's involvement, saying the opponent was free to return to Russia. Navalny's bank accounts and his share of the Moscow apartment were seized in late September by Russian authorities.