Supporters of Russian dissidents Alexey Navalnywho turns 47 today demonstrated with him in Russia and many other countries after three years of imprisonment, stating that he maintains high morale despite deteriorating conditions.

According to the public organization OVD-Info, at least 45 people were arrested in different cities of Russia, mainly in Moscow and St. Petersburg, because they demonstrated in favor of Navalny. His press secretary Kira Jarmis tweeted photos of the protests in Japan, Australia and Georgia.

In the announcement that released by Navalny himself, said that while his morale was high, he would rather be with his family than in a penal colony 260 kilometers northeast of Moscow..

Navalny says he has been in prison for the hundredth time, the 16th in total. His supporters believe that the Russian authorities want to break his morale, and for this reason they often lock him up for many days in cells where conditions are unbearable.. “Of course, I would rather not wake up in a hole, have breakfast with my family, receive kisses from children, open gifts and say that this is exactly what I dreamed of. But such is life: we cannot expect social progress and a better future if some people are not willing to pay for it,” he wrote.

Navalny He will soon appear in court in a new case accused of “extremism” and faces 35 years in prison.. He has been in detention since January 2021 after returning to Russia after being severely poisoned, which he blames on the Kremlin, and says this new charge is a way to keep him in jail for life. March 2021 he was sentenced to nine years in prison for “fraud”, a charge he said was trumped up.. From his prison, he continues to send messages to his team, describing the conditions of his imprisonment and denouncing Vladimir Putin and the invasion of Ukraine.

Source: APE-MPE-AFP-DPA.

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