[ti:Russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny Reportedly Dies in Prison]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]更多听力请访问21VOA.COM
[00:00.04]Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny
[00:04.04]– a sharp critic of President Vladimir Putin
[00:08.08]– has reportedly died
[00:10.44]in a far-northern prison at the age of 47.
[00:15.32]Russia's prison agency said Navalny
[00:19.56]collapsed and died Friday
[00:22.20]after taking a walk at a prison
[00:25.20]known as the "Polar Wolf."
[00:27.72]The prison colony is in the settlement of Kharp,
[00:32.88]about 1,900 kilometers
[00:36.84]northeast of Moscow, in Russia's Arctic area.
[00:41.84]Prison officials said Navalny
[00:45.48]fell unconscious almost immediately
[00:49.04]and was treated by medical workers
[00:52.32]who attempted to restart his breathing.
[00:55.28]But they said those efforts were unsuccessful
[00:59.20]and Navalny died shortly afterwards.
[01:03.32]A Russian government spokesman said
[01:06.44]President Putin had been informed of the death.
[01:10.32]Navalny's wife, Yulia,
[01:13.28]said she could not be sure her husband was dead
[01:17.72]because "Putin and his government...lie incessantly."
[01:23.08]Navalny's reported death comes as Putin
[01:27.64]prepares for an election
[01:29.68]that could keep him in power until at least 2030.
[01:35.12]For the past 10 years, Navalny has spoken out publicly
[01:40.44]and presented evidence of what he described
[01:44.32]as widespread government corruption.
[01:47.84]He also organized major anti-government protests
[01:53.12]and ran for public office.
[01:55.76]Navalny had been jailed since January 2021.
[02:01.76]That is when he returned to Moscow
[02:04.92]after a stay in Germany.
[02:07.28]He had been recovering there from a poisoning incident
[02:11.96]he blamed on Russia's government.
[02:14.88]Since then, he has received three prison sentences.
[02:19.96]Navalny has denounced them all as political.
[02:24.60]Western leaders and others
[02:27.52]who have opposed Putin's rule praised Navalny.
[02:31.92]The opposition leader's health had worsened recently.
[02:36.76]The true cause of death might never be known.
[02:40.28]Some world leaders
[02:42.28]said they hold Russian officials responsible.
[02:45.88]U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken
[02:50.44]said, if confirmed, Navalny's death
[02:54.36]"underscores the weakness and rot
[02:57.88]at the heart of the system that Putin has built.
[03:01.60]Russia is responsible for this."
[03:04.92]Blinken was speaking
[03:06.92]while attending a security conference in Germany.
[03:10.60]German Chancellor Olaf Scholz
[03:13.96]told reporters at the same conference
[03:16.76]that Navalny "has probably
[03:19.32]now paid for this courage with his life."
[03:23.36]Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
[03:27.56]– standing by Scholz's side – said,
[03:30.72]"Putin doesn't care who dies
[03:33.44]in order for him to hold onto his position."
[03:37.52]Russian Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov
[03:42.48]told Reuters news agency
[03:45.28]he considers Navalny's death "murder"
[03:48.76]because prison conditions caused his death.
[03:52.20]Muratov runs a pro-democracy newspaper.
[03:56.96]He shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize
[04:01.12]for his work in support of freedom
[04:03.24]of expression in Russia.
[04:06.56]Yulia Navalny said,
[04:09.24]if her husband is in fact dead,
[04:12.40]Putin, and those around him "will be punished
[04:16.56]for what they have done to our country,
[04:19.32]for what they have done to my family,
[04:21.92]for what they have done to my husband."
[04:25.32]I'm Bryan Lynn. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM