Hundreds gather to remember the Russian opposition leader.
On Sunday March 17, hundreds of Montrealers gathered at the Christ Church Cathedral located on St. Catherine West in honour of Alexei Navalny, a lawyer and the leader of the Russian opposition party.
Navalny, 47, died while incarcerated in a remote Arctic penal colony, northeast of Moscow on Feb. 16. He was best known for publicly criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin. Since 2011, Navalny has actively denounced corruption in Russian politics.
Organized by the Russian Canadian Democratic Alliance (RCDA), a non-government organization whose mission is to provide a space for Russian Canadians to advocate for democracy back home, the vigil allowed Montrealers to mourn and pray for Navalny’s family.
Individuals were also encouraged to visit the shrine of flowers and pictures made for Navalny behind the cathedral, which will remain there for a couple of weeks.
“We are delighted to be able to provide this unifying and neutral space for the community as we gather to remember a man who died in mysterious circumstances,” said Reverend Bertrand Olivier at the vigil. Many in the community saw Navalny as a figure who encouraged Russians to fight for a world where people could freely express themselves, he added.
Well-known Montreal musicians, including Guillaume Sutre, Yegor Dyachkov, Elizaveta Miller, Maria Sourjko, Maxim Shatalkin and Miriam Sekhon were also present to perform in the background, as individuals went up one by one to light candles in honour of Navalny’s memory.
For many, Navalny was an example of a man who stuck to his convictions regardless of the consequences he repeatedly faced, said deacon ordained minister Leonid Dzhalilov who reflected on Navalny’s life at the vigil.
In 2017, Navalny went almost fully blind in one eye from chemical burns after being thrown green liquid in his face by pro-Kremlin activists.
Years later, in 2020, Navalny was poisoned with a Soviet-era Novichok nerve agent, a chemical weapon initially developed in Russia. He and his supporters accused Putin of being behind the attack. Leaked recordings of two Russian spy agents admitting to there being a secret operation to kill Navalny, which was included in the award-winning documentary Navalny, further sparked worldwide outrage.
After he recovered from the attempt on his life, he returned to Russia knowing he would face arrest. He was convicted of numerous charges in the following years. At the time of his death, Navalny was facing a 30-year prison sentence.
“He was a very brave and honest man and his honesty was one of the reasons he returned to Russia,” Dzhalilov said. “He encouraged people to vote for him, to follow him—he encouraged them not to be afraid.”
Reverend Olivier also pointed out the significance of hosting the vigil on the same day when Putin was re-elected as Russia’s president for another six years. Western governments have since denounced the elections for being “rigged” and “undemocratic,” after the Kremlin announced Putin won 87 per cent of the votes.
Putin’s reign will continue to impact Russian Canadians. Just on Monday, March 18, the RCDA received word that their organization was “considered a threat to Russia’s national security,” as stated in an Instagram post from the association.
While the RCDA is consulting with lawyers about possible risks and consequences to committee members after this new status, their members continue to advocate against injustices in Russia, condemning the war in Ukraine and Putin’s colonial and imperial mentality, among many things.
