Hundreds of protesters gather at memorial for Navalny in Amsterdam

Several hundred people have gathered at the memorial on Dam Square in Amsterdam since noon on Saturday to demonstrate in support of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The popular critic of Russian President Putin died on Friday at the age of 47 at the Polar Wolf prison in Siberia.

Many people are shocked by Navalny’s death, an ANP photographer on site reported. Visitors light candles and lay flowers around a large picture of Navalny at the memorial on Dam Square. Protest signs with inscriptions such as "Putin is a murderer" could also be seen.

The demonstration was organized by Feminist Anti-War Resistance. On Friday evening, several hundred demonstrators also gathered at the memorial on Dam Square to commemorate Navalny.

A vigil was also held in front of the Russian embassy in The Hague on Friday evening. The vigil was set up by Free Russia NL, a protest group of Russian-speaking residents and citizens of the Netherlands.

"The past two years have already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, maimed countless adults and children physically and morally, and broken millions of destinies. Putin's propaganda is increasingly working to destroy brains and souls, and repression against the thinking, free and independent is intensifying," the group said in a statement on Instagram.

Navalny’s spokesperson confirms his death

Alexei Navalny's spokesperson Kira Jarmysh confirms that he has died, she wrote on X. Navalny's mother has received an official death notice, Jarmysh said. Yarmysh himself said that "Aleksey Navalny has been murdered."

According to the obituary, Navalny died on February 16 at 2:17 p.m. Navalny's body was taken to Salekhard, where an examination is being carried out, according to Yarmysh. Yarmysh demands the immediate handover of Navalny's body to his family. According to an employee of the only mortuary in Salekhard, Navalny's body did not arrive there.

Navalny served a prison sentence of more than 30 years in a prison camp in northern Russia. Navalny was a popular opposition figure in Russia and the most prominent opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Navalny was sentenced to prison, among other things, because he was accused of founding an extremist group. Before his imprisonment, Navalny was poisoned in 2020 but survived. The researchers at Bellingcat managed to trace the poisoning to the Russian secret service.