Germany's Scholz says Putin's regime killed Navalny

Berlin, 27. Februar (dpa/ourvoice) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the death of opposition politician Alexei Navalny.

"Like everyone else, I also assume that it was the regime that killed him," Scholz said on Monday in Berlin at dpa's editors-in-chief conference.

Russia is a dictatorship, the chancellor added. "His death is now the consequence of a dictatorship."

Navalny died on February 16 in the prison camp with the unofficial name "Polar Wolf" in the Siberian Arctic region of Yamal, Russian authorities said. The circumstances of his death remain unclear.

As dpa added, Russia's leading dissident, weakened by a poison attack and repeated solitary confinement in the camp, is said to have collapsed while exercising at the icy prison yard and died despite attempts to resuscitate him.

According to Navalny's team, the death certificate mentions "natural" causes. It is difficult to say whether Navalny's death will weaken or strengthen the opposition, Scholz said.

"In any case, it is clear that all those who are oppositional need a lot of courage."

The situation now is even more dangerous than during his last visit to Moscow, he said.

"At the same time, we can see that the Russian president and all those who support him politically are very afraid." This can be seen by the fact that the only presidential candidate supported by the opposition has been excluded from the ballot, he said.