‘Alexei Navalny’ and the Anti-Corruption movement.

Russia is currently witnessing a movement against corruption, headed by Alexei Navalny, a 44-year-old political activist, lawyer and YouTuber with millions of Russian followers. His focus is to bring the world’s attention to the intricate ways corruption manifests itself in the system.

The Federal Anti-corruption law criminalizes:

1. Active and passive bribery
2. Abuse of office
3. Commercial bribery

The enforcement of these acts is rare. Russian society, government and business structure is a balanced and intricate status quo. At the top, there is President Vladimir Putin. The second tier consists of the Russian billionaires. They are enriched by President Putin’s political power and authority. Allegedly, a symbiotic relationship exists in which the political elite and billionaires extend favours to each other. This phenomenon trickles down to all levels of administration.

Alexei Navalny gained popularity as a blogger in 2008. His early posts were about corruption in companies owned by Russia. He has been attempting to spotlight the world of bribery, secrecy and intimidation. He spent close to a decade achieving this goal. In his YouTube, he addresses the corruption and the alleged misappropriations of Russia’s wealthy 1% through serious journalism. In June of 2014, investigating officers of Russia searched his home and put him under house arrest. A stolen painting was recovered from his home. Further, Alexei Navalny was attacked in 2020 while leaving Tomsk, Russia. He was poisoned with a nerve agent developed by Soviet scientists during the Cold war. The nerve agent Novichok is a signature poison used by the FSB [Russian Intelligence Agency] to target dissidents.

After growing doubts about Navalny’s blood test results in Russia, an international human rights group flew him out to Germany. In September 2020, the German government stated the results of his blood tests. According to the result, there was “unequivocal proof of a chemical nerve warfare agent of the Novichok group.” Alexei recovered after spending five months in a medically induced coma. After the truth about the poison attack emerged, the EU imposed sanctions on Russian officials and a Russian chemical company. Vladimir Putin conceded that Alexei Navalny was under surveillance. According to their intelligence, spies from the US were feeding him information.

When Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000, the development and recovery of the economy gained him popularity amongst the citizens. The rebirth of a stable economy in Russia, after the broken Soviet economy, shaped Putin as a legitimate leader. Critique of his repression of free speech and civil rights was limited. On 2^nd February 2021, Alexei Navalny returned to Moscow from Germany. He was arrested immediately upon arrival. A Moscow court sentenced him to prison for violating the terms of a suspended sentence in 2014. The case against him detailed that he failed to present himself to the police at regular intervals during 2020. Counsellors in defence argued that the Russian authorities had knowledge of Navalny being in Germany under coma. It made him unable to function normally. They argued that he was targeted on absurd grounds. The legitimacy of the trial is worthy of questioning. Everyone involved knew the outcome as details were fabricated to prove Navalny’s guilt. The trial and the sentence rendered him unable to advocate the truth and grow his movement.

There are multiple agendas to the Russian protests against the government. Their increasing intolerance and lack of transparency are among them. An increase in poverty and unreasonable taxes is another. In a protest on the 19^th of January, 2021, Russians came out in support of Navalny’s cause. Protestors used slogan such as “Putin is a thief!”, simultaneously demanding Navalny’s release from prison. Protestors mentioned that they are tired of “lawlessness and corruption”. Citizens protested despite the threat of arrest and social consequences.

Back peddling two days before Alexei Navalny was arrested, his team released a 2-hour long documentary. This documentary provided details of Vladimir Putin’s alleged involvement in corruption. It has been viewed over 100 million times. The video mentions Putin owning an estate worth billion dollars. This estate has amenities such as an underground ice-rink, a bar for recreational substances and a stage equipped for sexually-suggestive entertainment. It provides drone footage of the estate.

After the eruption of protests on a massive scale by the Russian citizens, Vladimir Putin decided to defend himself. This outraged the citizens because the evidence presented was of sheer opulence during a time where the pandemic left millions of Russians jobless and hungry. Alexei Navalny, after the end of his trial in 2021 said “You won’t be able to scare us. We are the majority. Tens of millions of people, whom this power has robbed, cannot be intimidated. More and more people now understand that the law is on our side, the truth is on our side, we are the majority, and we will not let a bunch of scoundrels impose their order on us.”

Alexei Navalny is aware of the power of the Russian people. He firmly believes that bringing truth to the forefront of the majority can dismantle systematic corruption. There have been several attempts to silence Alexei Navalny. Effective protests would affect the government’s grip on power. President Putin throughout the years has projected himself as the strong leader of the Russian federation. Allegations of corruption could have irrecoverable damage to his reputation. Russian people holding the government accountable can have serious consequences for the President. He is the public face of power and alleged misappropriation and corruption. The imprisonment of Navalny will paint Russia in a negative light on the international stage. Concerns about Navalny’s health deteriorating could give rise to potential human rights abuse.

Sayani Das

Intern, AGA

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of Asia in Global Affairs.

References:

1. “Russia Corruption Report”, ed. Risk and Compliance Portal, accessed on 2^nd March 2021, https://www.ganintegrity.com/portal/country-profiles/russia/
2. “Alexei Navalny: Russia’s vociferous Putin critic”, ed. BBC News, accessed on 3^rd March 2021, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-16057045
3. “Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader threatening Putin’s rule, explained”, ed. Alex Ward, 3^rd March 2021, https://www.vox.com/22254292/alexei-navalny-russia-protests-vladimir-putin-palace-video
4. “The Man Putin Fears The Most”, ed. Johnny Harris, accessed on 4^th March 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrORwk_RZLM&t=448s
5. “Putin’s Palace by Alexey Navalny fan, dubbed to English, Full movie documentary”, ed. [originally by Alexei Navalny, dubbed to English by Running Dog], accessed on 4^th of March, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua1UFU9Z3LY&t=308s
6. “We are not a country. We are just pure corruption”: how Moscow came out in support of Alexey Navalny”, ed. Dmitry Sidorov accessed on 29^th of March, 2021. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/how-moscow-protested-support-alexey-navalny-2021/