The Paris authorities have decided that an avenue will be named after Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died in a labor camp in 2024, in the French capital. Navalny Avenue will be located near the Russian embassy and will occupy part of the current Avenue de la Pologne (Poland Avenue).
City councilors unanimously approved the decision on Wednesday, four days before the first anniversary of Alexei Navalny's death.
,,Navalny is the embodiment of what dictators fear most: a free man who never gave up, said Laurence Patrice, deputy mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo.
The location near the Russian Embassy in Paris was chosen because it will be a "strong symbol and a clear message," Patrice added. The odd side of Poland Avenue will bear Navalny's name. The short street is divided into two parts - even and odd - by a wide square named after one of the founders of the European integration project, Robert Schuman. The Russian embassy is a few hundred meters away, on a parallel street.
Navalny, a blogger, anti-corruption activist and opponent of the Kremlin, was arrested in Russia in 2021 when he returned to the country after an attempted poisoning and treatment in Germany. The authorities brought additional criminal cases against him, resulting in sentences totaling more than 30 years in prison. In the penal colony, he was repeatedly transferred to solitary confinement, where he spent a total of more than 300 days. On February 16, 2024, Russian prison authorities announced his death. Navalny's supporters and relatives are convinced that he was killed on the orders of the Kremlin.
md / belsat.eu / PAP
