The struggle between freedom and dictatorship continues on many fronts, and the most touching is the courage of individuals who risk their lives resisting oppression. Jimmy Lai and other Hong Kong Democrats have been jailed for China’s insistence, while the Kremlin is slowly taking Alexei Navalny’s life to prison.
Critic Vladimir Putin, 44, has been jailed in Russia’s famous IK-2 prison since March 11, accused of violating his parole on a previous false charge. He dared to recover in Germany after dying almost after being poisoned by government agents. But he bravely returned to Russia, where he was arrested and imprisoned.
Navalny has been on hunger strike after being denied treatment for other illnesses. “Alexey is dying now. Given his condition, it’s a matter of days, ”Mr Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said on Facebook.
The White House warned Sunday that there would be “consequences” if Mr. Navalny dies, and President Biden said Saturday that his treatment is “totally unfair.” But last week, Mr Biden sent mixed signals to Putin inviting the autocrat he has called a “killer” for a leader-to-leader summit, even though Mr Navalny’s health was weakening in prison.
The free world — if we can still use that phrase in the Woke Era — must find its voice again in the name of brave dissidents like Alexei Navalny and Jimmy Lai. They must become world-renowned names, as Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Andrei Sakharov did during the Cold War. And we hope the White House is serious about the “consequences.”