(New York) “I will spend the rest of my life in prison and I will die here,” Alexei Navalny wrote in March 2022, according to excerpts published Friday from the posthumous memoir of Vladimir Putin’s top critic, who died in Russia’s prison in February.
“There will be no one to say goodbye to […] All birthdays will be celebrated without me. I will never see my grandchildren or be the subject of any family history. “I will not be in any pictures,” Alexei Navalny adds on March 22, 2022, in this prison memoir, excerpts of which were published by The New Yorker magazine, before it is published in bookstores on October 22.
Upon his return to Russia in January 2021, after being seriously poisoned, the anti-corruption activist was immediately arrested. He was serving a 19-year prison sentence for “extremism” in an Arctic penal colony when he died at the age of 47 on February 16.
“The only thing we have to fear is leaving our homeland to be plundered by a group of liars, thieves and hypocrites,” he wrote on January 17, 2022.
In excerpts in which traits of humor appear despite loneliness and isolation, the antagonist narrates, 1any July 2022, Typical day: Wake up at 6am, eat breakfast at 6:20am and start work at 6:40am.
“At work, you sit for seven hours in front of the sewing machine, in a chair that is less than knee height,” he describes.
After work, she continues to sit for a few hours on a wooden bench under a picture of Putin. This is called “disciplinary activity.”
Excerpt from Alexei Navalny's memoirs
The book, titled “Patriot,” will be released worldwide on October 22, and a Russian version of it is scheduled to be released, according to American publisher Knopf. The activist's death sparked unanimous condemnations in Western capitals, with many leaders pointing the finger at Vladimir Putin.
For David Remnick, editor-in-chief of the magazine The New Yorker“It is impossible to read Mr. Navalny’s prison memoirs without feeling outraged by the tragedy of his suffering and death.”
In the last journal entry I published The New YorkerOn January 17, 2024, the dissident confided that a question was constantly recurring among his fellow prisoners or some prison officers: Why did he return to Russia?
“I do not want to abandon or betray my country. If your beliefs are meaningful, you must be willing to defend them and make sacrifices if necessary.
