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    • Excerpts from Russian opposition leader Navalny's memoir show he knew he would die in prison

    Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny listens to a question during an interview at the Echo Moskvy (Echo of Moscow) radio station in Moscow, Russia, Monday, April 8, 2013. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File) Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny listens to a question during an interview at the Echo Moskvy (Echo of Moscow) radio station in Moscow, Russia, Monday, April 8, 2013. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
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    Excerpts of a memoir written by late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny revealed he believed he would die in prison.

    The New Yorker magazine published the excerpts Friday in anticipation of the release of 鈥淧atriot鈥 on Oct. 22.

    Navalny was President Vladimir Putin鈥檚 fiercest and most prominent foe and relentlessly campaigned against official corruption in Russia. He died in a remote Arctic prison in February while serving a 19-year sentence on several charges, including running an extremist group, which he said were politically motivated.

    He was jailed after returning in 2021 from Germany where he was recuperating from a nerve agent poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin, and was given three prison terms since. Russian officials have vehemently denied involvement both in the poisoning and in his death.

    鈥淧atriot" was announced in April by publisher Alfred A. Knopf who called it the late politician鈥檚 鈥渇inal letter to the world."

    According to Knopf, Navalny began working on the book while recovering from the poisoning and continued writing it in Russia, both in and out of prison.

    In detailing his coping strategies while imprisoned, Navalny said he would 鈥渋magine, as realistically as possible, the worst thing that could happen. And then (...) accept it.鈥

    For him, this was dying in prison.

    鈥淚 will spend the rest of my life in prison and die here,鈥 he wrote on March 22, 2022.

    鈥淭here will not be anybody to say goodbye to ... All anniversaries will be celebrated without me. I鈥檒l never see my grandchildren.鈥

    Although he had accepted this fate, Navalny鈥檚 memoir conveys a resolute stance against official corruption in Russia.

    鈥淢y approach to the situation is certainly not one of contemplative passivity. I am trying to do everything I can from here to put an end to authoritarianism (or, more modestly, to contribute to ending it),鈥 he wrote, also on March 22, 2022.

    In a published excerpt, dated January 17, 2024, a month before his death, Navalny answers the question posed by his fellow inmates and prison guards: 鈥淲hy did you come back?鈥

    鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to give up my country or betray it. If your convictions mean something, you must be prepared to stand up for them and make sacrifices if necessary,鈥 he wrote.

    As well as capturing the isolation and challenges of his imprisonment, Navalny鈥檚 writing is notable also for its humor. The late dissident recounts a bet with his lawyers over the length of a new prison sentence: "Olga reckoned eleven to fifteen years. Vadim surprised everyone with his prediction of precisely twelve years and six months. I guessed seven to eight years and was the winner.鈥

    He also marveled at the absurdity of being made to sit for 鈥渉ours on a wooden bench under a portrait of Putin鈥 as a 鈥渄isciplinary activity.鈥

    Navalny鈥檚 widow, Yulia Navalnaya, said in a statement released in April by the publisher the book was not only a testament 鈥渢o Alexei鈥檚 life, but to his unwavering commitment to the fight against dictatorship,鈥 adding that sharing his story would" inspire others to stand up for what is right and to never lose sight of the values that truly matter.鈥

    She also said the memoir was already translated into 11 languages and would 鈥渄efinitely鈥 be published in Russian.

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