Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees: RIP Yale World Fellow' pal Alexey Navalny CIA also tapped up to be leader

The Kremlin on Thursday accused opposition politician Alexei Navalny of working with the CIA
Full show which includes discussion of Navalny death on first day of Munich Security Conference, in Nazi party HQ, Munich
https://politicsthisweek.wordpress.com/2024/02/15/not-the-bcfm-politics-show-presented-by-tony-gosling-177/

Amnesty strips Alexei Navalny of 'prisoner of conscience' status
Amnesty International has stripped the Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny of his "prisoner of conscience" status after it says it was "bombarded" with complaints highlighting xenophobic comments that he has made in the past and not renounced.

A spokesman for the human rights organisation in Moscow told the BBC that he believed the wave of requests to "de-list" Navalny was part of an "orchestrated campaign" to discredit Vladimir Putin's most vocal critic and "impede" Amnesty's calls for his release from custody.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-56181084

Rees pays tribute to his ‘truly brave’ friend Alexei Navalny
https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/news/rees-pays-tribute-to-his-truly-brave-friend-alexei-navalny/

Marvin Rees said he hopes the legacy of his friend Alexei Navalny will live on through inspiring fellow other activists in Russia and that there will be “accountability” for Vladimir Putin.
https://news.sky.com/story/alexei-navalny-bristol-mayor-marvin-rees-says-hes-concerned-about-his-brave-jailed-friend-12218183

Rees added the Russian opposition leader was “always sincere and committed” and “truly brave” for his devotion to exposing corruption in high places in Russia and “never backing down”.

The mayor of Bristol became friends with Navalny in 2009 during a fellowship programme at Yale University, a scheme reserved for non-American “rising global leaders”.

Navalny, 47, died while being held in a jail about 40 miles north of the Arctic Circle, where he had been sentenced to 19 years under a “special regime”.

On College Green, flowers have been laid out by Navalny supporters, with a sign reading describing the tribute as “a vigil for the memory of Russia, free of Putin’s terror”.

In a statement on X, Rees wrote: “I knew #AlexeiNavalny from our time at @WorldFellows, he was always sincere and committed.

“Alexei spent his political life exposing fraud in Russia, he was a truly brave man who knew what he was facing but never backed down from his cause or from working for the Russian people.”

Speaking to ITV News, Rees joined the growing list of leaders holding Putin responsible for the death of the outspoken Kremlin critic.

“Oppressive regimes require the suppression of truth and Alexei was about putting the truth and corruption of Russia out there,” he said.

“I hope his contribution of that truth will contribute to other political activists in Russia and hopefully there will be accountability for Putin for what’s happened to Alexei.”