Is Alexei Navalny a hero or just stupid?

[noname223]

I hope this question is not too provocative. You could argue about the political stances which Navalny has. It is not sure where he positions himself. He also supported aggressive nationalism in the past.

I think if I was Navalny I would cry everyday about my past decision. However just today I have read he seems to be strong and determined. I mean he gets tortured everyday in prison and he was just sentenced to 9 more years in prison. I am quite sure I would be daily on the edge of suicide. There are some ways how they torture him. I have read they wake him about every night when he sleeps many times. When he was on a hunger strike they grilled bacon or some other food nearby of his cell. He had a dangerous health condition and he was not able to see a doctor. Etc.

And he voluntarily returned to Russia. He could have had an happy life in freedom in a foreign country. But he refused to leave Russia. It would have had destroyed his political career. But damn this torture would break me in the blink of an eye. It is not sure if he really expected such a horrible prison charge for leaving Russia. Probably not. Still I would cry everyday about this decision. And he seems to be unbroken. You can admire that strength. I cannot really grasp to be such principled. The torture sounds horrbile. Maybe he has to be in prison for the rest of his life....

How do you think about him? Do you admire that or was this kind of a stupid decision?

 

[Someone123]

In a way you admire his courage but you also realize it was a very stupid deciscion, he could have helped Russia and himself much more from abroad- sometimes a person feels so strong that they think they can take on anything, but when you're at someone's mercy like that you can not take them on. He is a hero but he made a terrible decision in going back.

 

[GrumpyFrog]

If he just wanted to live a nice happy life, he wouldn't have done all those things he did, even before returning to Russia. He made a choice to make himself a martyr for the sake of his political ideas. Whethere that is stupid, heroic, both or neither is more in the eyes of the beholder...
You've got to take into account that at the stage when it came to his decision on whether to go back to Russia or not, there were no guarantees that he'll live a perfectly safe normal life even if he stayed in Germany and quit politics. Maybe he wouldn't exactly be tortured, but if anything he wouldn't be the first exiled political figure to get quietly assassinated abroad with dubious cause of death that can be passed off as accidental or natural. Basically, he chose to go down somewhat more harrowingly, but also more publicly, so that it's clear to the world as a whole that whatever happens to him next it will certainly not be an unfortunate accident and nobody will doubt the motives of perpetrators.

 

[Valky]

well, well, this did not age well.

 

[noname223]

well, well, this did not age well.

Not necessarily. He was once again livestreamed yesterday while he was alive. He acted strong and determined, joked around with the judge. He was not broken till the end. But probably his body collapsed. Mentally he must have had incredible strength.

I don't even want to know all the torture he had to endure during these 3 years. I ask myself whether they might have raped him. Some of the prisons he was in were infamous for sexual violence.

I still kind of admire his bravery. However in my opinion he should have never returned to Russia.

 

[Valky]

Not necessarily. He was once again livestreamed yesterday while he was alive. He acted strong and determined, joked around with the judge. He was not broken till the end. But probably his body collapsed. Mentally he must have had incredible strength.

I don't even want to know all the torture he had to endure during these 3 years. I ask myself whether they might have raped him. Some of the prisons he was in were infamous for sexual violence.

I still kind of admire his bravery. However in my opinion he should have never returned to Russia.

I don't mean the determination be showed but the fact that he is now dead :/

 

[astonishedturnip]

Damn, RIP. Can only imagine how horrible his end was compared to what will inevitably be reported. This time just last year, the documentary about his life and assassination attempt won the Oscar -- feels insane for him to already be gone.

 

[leavingthesoultrap]

He is a victim of the oppressive russian regime.
R. I. P.