By AKIRA NEMOTO/ Staff Writer
February 18, 2024 at 13:31 JST
Placards reading “Who’s next (to die?)” and “Murderer” feature in a demonstration held outside the Russian Embassy in Tokyo on Feb. 17 to protest the death of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny. (Akira Nemoto)
Supporters of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, one of President Vladimir Putin’s staunchest critics, staged an angry protest Feb. 17 outside the Russian Embassy in Tokyo following his shocking death.
Organized by Russians living in Japan, the protesters carried placards and bouquets of flowers to express their condemnation of the Putin administration’s continued repression of dissidents.
One placard read, “Who’s next (to die)?”
Similar demonstrations were held throughout Russia as well as in the United States, Europe and elsewhere.
Around 50 demonstrators gathered around the embassy in Minato Ward, a day after the death was reported, and chanted slogans like “Against the war,” “Freedom for Russia” and “We will not give up.”
“Navalny was the most powerful and famous symbol fighting Putin. He looked healthy until recently,” a 41-year-old Russian woman who has lived in Japan for about 10 years said with tears in her eyes.
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