Navalny’s death is a warning to Putin challengers, activist Bill Browder says

Activist Bill Browder says he believes Vladimir Putin killed Alexei Navalny because he stood up to the Russian president, despite an official cause of death yet.

The death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has spurred a strong reaction from supporters across the globe, but political activist Bill Browder is cautioning about what the Kremlin foe’s demise could mean for other critics of president Vladimir Putin.

No official cause of death has been established yet, but Browder told Global News he believes Navalny, who was also a good friend of his, died because he stood up to the Russian leader.

“I think the point that Putin wanted to make was, that by killing Alexei Navalny, anyone else who tries this will die,” Browder said. “Alexei challenged him and he died.”

Navalny’s death was announced Friday by the Arctic penal colony where he was held. Russia’s Federal Prison Service said in a statement that Navalny felt unwell after a walk on Friday and lost consciousness. An ambulance arrived to try to rehabilitate him, but he died, The Associated Press and Reuters reported, citing those Russian officials.

Navalny, 47, had been serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism, which his allies had labelled as politically motivated.

His death — less than a month before an election that will give Putin another six years in power — has relieved Putin of his greatest political foe, one who organized mass anti-Kremlin protests and crusaded against corruption. Navalny’s death has also deprived the Russian opposition of its most well-known politician.

“It’s basically a very dangerous game to stand up to Putin because he can’t tolerate any type of criticism,” said Browder, who added there is “no question” that he too is a target and has been the subject to death threats, extradition requests and more.

“The reason that Putin killed Navalny was because he was scared. He’s scared because it’s a brutal regime. He’s scared because he can only run Russia with repression,” he said.