New Zealand politicians, including Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, have posted their support of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny who died early on Saturday morning in an Arctic Circle prison.
US news site Associated Press said Navalny felt unwell after a walk, according to the Federal Penitentiary Service, and lost consciousness. An ambulance arrived, but he could not be revived. The service said the cause of death was "being established".
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said on social media site X (formerly Twitter) he was "saddened" to hear of his death.
He said the man was "a fierce advocate of freedom and anti-corruption."
Winston Peters, Minister for Foreign Affairs, also posted his sympathies on the same social media site. He said in a follow-up post that "New Zealand remains concerned over Russia's repression of political opponents."
ACT Leader David Seymour joined his coalition partners in paying homage to the Russian.
He said Navalny said his thoughts are "with those he left behind, and all those struggling against oppression in Russia."
Former Labour leader and Prime Minister Helen Clark has also commented on the death of the opposition leader.
In addition to her message, she shared a BBC article outlining what is known about Navalny's death.
Navalny had been behind bars since January 2021, when he returned to Moscow to face certain arrest after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.
Since then, he was convicted three times, and reject each case as politically motivated.
After the last verdict, Navalny said he understood that he was "serving a life sentence, which is measured by the length of my life or the length of life of this regime".
Additional reporting by Associated Press
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