Latest news with #Navalny
Novaya Gazeta Europe
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Novaya Gazeta Europe
Russian Justice Ministry adds Alexey Navalny's memoir to list of extremist materials — Novaya Gazeta Europe
Alexey Navalny's memoir Patriot is on display at a bookstore in New York, 22 October 2024. Photo: EPA/SARAH YENESEL The Russian Justice Ministry has added Alexey Navalny's internationally best-selling memoir Patriot to a list of 'extremist materials', effectively banning the book and removing it from all but a handful of libraries. The updated list now includes the Russian edition of the book, which was published posthumously by the Lithuanian publishing house One Book Publishing in 2024. According to the ministry, Patriot was recognised as an extremist text in June by a court in northwestern Russia's Leningrad region. However, no public statement on the book being banned in Russia had previously been issued. Ivan Zhdanov, the director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, which Navalny founded, said that Navalny's book being added to the register of extremist materials was 'only to be expected of Putin' on Wednesday, adding that there was nevertheless still 'no criminal liability for reading the book' and saying he was 'sure that even more people will read it now'.
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Russia jails journalist for alleged Navalny links amid crackdown on dissent
A Russian court has sentenced journalist Olga Komleva to 12 years in prison on 'extremism' charges over her links to an opposition group, as the Kremlin intensifies its crackdown on dissent. On Tuesday, Komleva, 46, was found guilty of 'extremist' ties for her past volunteer work with the late opposition leader Alexey Navalny's banned political party and for allegedly spreading false information about the Russian army in her reporting on the war in Ukraine. The verdict underscores Moscow's expanding repression, which now targets not only active critics but also those who were once affiliated with opposition groups. Independent outlet Mediazona reported that Komleva had volunteered for Navalny's party before it was outlawed in 2021. She later worked for the independent media outlet RusNews, covering antigovernment protests and Russia's military assault on Ukraine. The Kremlin has escalated its decade-long clampdown on independent media amid its campaign in Ukraine by imposing sweeping censorship laws, effectively banning any criticism of the military. A district court in the central Russian city of Ufa 'found that the defendant participated in the activities of an extremist community' and 'spread deliberately false information about the actions of the armed forces,' it said in a statement. 'The court found the defendant guilty and sentenced her to 12 years in prison,' it added. The journalist did not admit guilt on either charge. Komleva was seen smiling and waving from inside a glass defendants' box after she heard the verdict, and said 'I love you all' to a group of people who came to support her, according to a video published by RusNews. Komleva has diabetes and struggled to receive medication while in pre-trial detention, Mediazona said. Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's main opponent, who died in an Arctic penal colony under unclear circumstances last year, was declared an 'extremist' by Russian authorities in 2021. Russia banned Navalny's organisations in the same fashion shortly before launching its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine and has ruthlessly targeted those it deems to have links to him.
3 days ago
- Politics
Russian journalist sentenced to 12 years over ties to opposition group
MOSCOW -- A Russian journalist was convicted and sentenced to 12 years in prison on Tuesday on charges of 'extremism' over her links to an opposition group, part of an unrelenting crackdown on dissent. A court in the city of Ufa in Russia's Bashkortostan region found Olga Komleva, 46, guilty of involvement with an organization of late opposition leader Alexei Navalny that was officially branded 'extremist." Following her closed-door trial, the judge also found Komleva guilty on charges of 'spreading false information' about the Russian military. She rejected the charges. Komleva, who has been in custody since her arrest in March 2024, had worked as a volunteer at the regional branch of Navalny's Foundation for Fighting Corruption before it was outlawed in 2021 in a move widely seen as politically motivated. She also worked for an independent news outlet and covered protests in the region. Navalny was President Vladimir Putin's fiercest and most prominent foe and relentlessly campaigned against official corruption in Russia. Navalny died in February 2024 in an Arctic penal colony while serving a 19-year sentence on a number of charges, including running an extremist group, which he had rejected as politically driven. Russian authorities have intensified their crackdown on dissent after the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, relentlessly targeting rights groups, independent media, members of civil society organizations, LGBTQ+ activists and certain religious affiliations. Hundreds of people have been jailed and thousands of others have fled the country. In January, three lawyers who once represented Navalny were convicted and given sentences ranging from 3½ to five years on charges of involvement with an 'extremist' group. Four journalists were convicted in April on extremism charges for working for Navalny's group and sentenced them each to 5½ years in prison.
Associated Press
3 days ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Russian journalist sentenced to 12 years over ties to opposition group
MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian journalist was convicted and sentenced to 12 years in prison on Tuesday on charges of 'extremism' over her links to an opposition group, part of an unrelenting crackdown on dissent. A court in the city of Ufa in Russia's Bashkortostan region found Olga Komleva, 46, guilty of involvement with an organization of late opposition leader Alexei Navalny that was officially branded 'extremist.' Following her closed-door trial, the judge also found Komleva guilty on charges of 'spreading false information' about the Russian military. She rejected the charges. Komleva, who has been in custody since her arrest in March 2024, had worked as a volunteer at the regional branch of Navalny's Foundation for Fighting Corruption before it was outlawed in 2021 in a move widely seen as politically motivated. She also worked for an independent news outlet and covered protests in the region. Navalny was President Vladimir Putin's fiercest and most prominent foe and relentlessly campaigned against official corruption in Russia. Navalny died in February 2024 in an Arctic penal colony while serving a 19-year sentence on a number of charges, including running an extremist group, which he had rejected as politically driven. Russian authorities have intensified their crackdown on dissent after the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, relentlessly targeting rights groups, independent media, members of civil society organizations, LGBTQ+ activists and certain religious affiliations. Hundreds of people have been jailed and thousands of others have fled the country. In January, three lawyers who once represented Navalny were convicted and given sentences ranging from 3½ to five years on charges of involvement with an 'extremist' group. Four journalists were convicted in April on extremism charges for working for Navalny's group and sentenced them each to 5½ years in prison.
IOL News
5 days ago
- General
- IOL News
The Books We Pause: When Not Finishing Is a Form of Growth
Reflection gives context to our reading, helping us understand not just what happened, but why it matters. It's the pause between the pages that turns words into wisdom. Reading Patriot did not feel passive. Navalny does not seek sympathy or dramatise his experiences. He simply tells the truth. With wit, clarity, and a kind of dry strength, he invites reflection rather than reaction. We rarely talk about the things we do not finish. Whether it is a book, an online course, or even a meaningful conversation, unfinished things are often accompanied by quiet guilt. We associate stopping with a lack of focus, discipline, or drive. But what if stopping is not avoidance? What if it means we are in tune with ourselves? Not because I lost interest, quite the opposite. It challenged me more than I expected and reminded me that sometimes pausing a book is not a sign of failure. It is an act of self-awareness. I have never reviewed a book halfway through reading, but Patriot by Alexei Navalny left a strong impression on me early on. One moment in the book has stayed with me. Navalny describes meeting former German Chancellor Angela Merkel while recovering from an attempted poisoning. There is no sense of performance in his writing, no political showmanship, no pride. Just two people in a quiet room, one still healing, the other simply listening. Beneath that stillness, a deep resolve forms. That quiet encounter conveys more about purpose and courage than entire chapters of theory ever could. After reading that scene, I closed the book. Not because I could not continue, but because something in me said pause. Some books do not need to be powered through. Some moments ask for stillness more than speed. And what I felt was not hesitation. It was clarity. The experience reminded me that this applies beyond reading. We pause projects not out of inconsistency, but because our inner voice knows the time is not right. We leave conversations unfinished because the space is not ready. We abandon ideas not because they are wrong, but because they are still becoming. The culture around us often rewards completion over clarity. Consistency is framed as success, while open-endedness is treated as failure. Yet real growth is rarely tidy. Self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and resilience often emerge when we allow things to unfold in their own time. We carry fragments that shape us. A sentence from a podcast, a paragraph from a book, or a memory that resurfaces years later with new meaning. These fragments matter. They stay with us, even when the original moment was never fully finished. So now, when I pause a book or step back from a decision, I ask myself different questions. Am I avoiding, or am I absorbing? Is this unfinished, or still unfolding? Sometimes I return with new insight. Sometimes I do not return at all. But I never forget what it gave me. I remember what shifted within me because of it. Reading habits are not just about discipline. They reflect how we engage with ourselves. To pause a book is not to fail as a reader. It is to listen as a human being. Not everything is meant to be finished. But everything can teach us something. There is grace in the pause, not because it signals retreat, but because it allows room for something deeper to take root. We do not always know what we are preparing for, only that we are. To stop is sometimes to begin. To wait is sometimes to listen. To listen is sometimes to grow. And maybe that is the truest form of reading. Not reaching the final page, but being changed somewhere along the way.
