On Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the death of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny as a tragedy and said it exposed Russian President Vladimir Putin as a monster.
“It shows the extent to which Putin… will crack down on anyone who is fighting for freedom for the Russian people. And it’s something that has the entire world being reminded of exactly what a monster Putin is”, Trudeau continued.
Russian authorities had stated that Navalny, 47, died abruptly in his Arctic jail.
The shocking declaration came as Putin prepares to prolong his two-decade hold on power in a staged presidential race in March.
Navalny, a charismatic lawyer, was widely regarded as Russia’s top opposition leader and the only politician capable of rallying huge crowds and confronting Putin, 71.
Speaking to a gathering of Canadian business leaders, Trudeau lauded Navalny’s extraordinary courage in advocating for basic freedoms, for democracy.
Canadian Prime Minister asked Canadians to double and triple down in their determination to uphold these values and push back against Putin, particularly regarding Ukraine, “but also in a world that is more challenging and more destabilized than we’ve seen in a very, very long time”.
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