The bureau of Liberal International stands in solidarity with Russia’s liberal party, Yabloko, and with all Russians who seek an alternative for their country grounded in the values of liberalism.

We are deeply troubled that the result, which is said to have seen Mr. Putin win close to a 90% share of the vote, will legitimise the conceit that leads to a mobilization of thousands more Russians to fight President Putin’s illegal wars abroad while sanctioning greater crackdowns at home, all the time fostering deeper confrontation with the liberal-democratic West.

We note that according to the independent Russian election monitoring movement, Golos, this presidential campaign contained more constitutional violations than any it has observed since its founding more than two decades ago. Throughout the election process, Russia’s entire state apparatus was involved in propaganda, coercion, and voter surveillance. On the last day of voting, law enforcement in some regions exerted control over voters’ will, punishing them for making “incorrect” marking on their ballots or showing up at the polling station to vote at the “wrong” time, and even demanding they reveal their vote. We are also appalled by the forcing of people in the occupied territories of Ukraine to vote.

We applaud the courage of Russians who, in these extremely difficult circumstances, followed the advice of Alexei Navalny to silently protest at numerous polling stations on 17 March, registering their dissent at Vladimir Putin’s deadly authoritarianism and reminding their country that another Russia is possible.

Source:https://liberal-international.org/news-articles/sham-election-russia/

The bureau of Liberal International is shocked to learn that Alexei Navalny, another dissident of the regime of Vladimir Putin, has died at a penal colony outside of the Arctic Circle.

Facing 30 years of a politically-motivated prison sentence, Navalny was one of the most persistent critics of Vladimir Putin. His unwavering fight for transparency, democracy, human rights, and fight against state corruption earned him respect from the global community. Such was the influence of Mr. Navalny that he was able to shake the foundations of Putin’s dictatorial regime even from his prison cell.

We echo the concerns of Liberal International Prize for Freedom laureate, Dr Grigory Yavlinsky, that as an opponent of the regime Navalny ended up in a colony mainly for his political activities. The conditions of his detention are nothing but torture, hypocritically and cruelly committed by the authorities who stop at nothing to suppress their opponents. In the totalitarian Russia that Vladimir Putin has reinforced, we are deeply concerned about the safety of other political prisoners including our 2023 Prize for Freedom laureate, Vladimir Kara-Murza, who also has been the victim of poisoning and whose health is in danger because of the detention conditions. We reiterate our demands for the immediate release of all political prisoners and the end of the persecution of dissidents.

Like so many other liberal-democrats who have fought to be free from an authoritarian Russia, Navalny’s blood is on Putin’s hands.

At this time we offer our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and supporters of Alexei Navalny.

Source:https://liberal-international.org/news-articles/statement-on-the-death-of-navalny/