Navalny was Russia's highest-profile political prisoner. But there are more than 1,000 others

Just before Alexei Navalny's mother, Lyudmila, posted a video to social media on Tuesday pleading with Russian authorities to let her see her son's body, another clip began circulating from state media showing the arrest of the country's latest political prisoner.

A 33-year-old Russian-U.S. dual national, who has been identified as Ksenia Khavana, was seen in handcuffs with a hat pulled over her eyes as she was led out of an apartment building in Yekaterinburg, a city 800 kilometres east of Moscow.

Khavana has been accused of treason and could face up to 20 years in prison. Her crime? A group of Russian lawyers say the Los Angeles resident donated $50 US to the Ukrainian war effort. 

Navalny, who was nearly fatally poisoned in 2020, died on Friday afternoon at a penal colony in Russia's Arctic. He was the country's most high-profile political prisoner, but according to the Russian human rights group OVD-Info, more than 1,000 people are currently imprisoned in Russia as a result of politically motivated prosecutions, including a political activist with ties to Canada. 

Some advocates think Western lawmakers should be doing more to free them.

"Some of our loudest voices are still in prison," said Jamison Firestone, a London-based lawyer who is a leading voice against Russian corruption. "I don't know what we can do … but would I trade political prisoners for murderers and internet hackers? Sure."

U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, who was born in Canada and later served as a U.S. Marine, are both imprisoned in Russia on espionage charges. The U.S. has declared them both wrongfully detained.

Negotiations are underway to free them in a possible prisoner exchange that could involve the release of Russian Vadim Krasikov, who is jailed in Germany for the murder of a Chechen dissident in a Berlin park in 2019.

Firestone, who spoke with CBC News on Monday, thinks Western leaders should be trying to secure the release of more political prisoners — particularly Russian-British national Vladimir Kara-Murza, a journalist and political activist serving a 25-year sentence for treason.

"God forbid this happens to him," Firestone said, referring to Navalny's sudden and suspicious death last week.

Prison officials said Navalny, 47, collapsed shortly after returning from a walk on Friday. 

"I have no idea what leverage anybody can bring to get [Kara-Murza] out of there, but that should be done first thing," said Firestone.

On Monday, British Conservative backbench MP Bob Seely urged his government to consider a prisoner swap for Kara-Murza, saying "if Putin can kill Navalny, he can kill Kara-Murza."

Seely's plea was flatly rejected by the U.K. government, which said it would continue to seek the release of Kara-Murza, but "would not countenance a policy of prisoners swap."