Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny is dead, the prison service of the Yamalo-Nenets region where he had been serving his sentence, has said

 Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny is dead, the prison service of the Yamalo-Nenets region where he had been serving his sentence, has said. Mr Navalny, an outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been in Russian jail since 2021 on charges that are widely viewed as politically motivated

1. In August, he was found guilty of founding and funding an extremist organisation, which he denies, and was given an extra 19 years to his existing sentence
2. He had already been sentenced to nine years for parole violations, fraud and contempt of court
3. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian's penitentiary service was making all checks regarding Navalny's death but had no information about the matter.
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5. Navalny paid with his life for opposing Putin, French foreign minister says

   Reaction to the news of Russian political activist Alexei Navalny's death is flowing in now.

   In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné says that Navalny "paid with his life" for his "resistance to Russian oppression".

   "His death in a penal colony reminds us of the reality of Vladimir Putin's regime," he adds.

6. Navalny jailed over corruption charges widely seen as political

   Navalny has been in jail since 2021, and in December he was moved to an arctic penal colony in Siberia.

   Charges against Navalny, one of Vladimir Putin's most vociferous critics, are widely seen as politically motivated.

   He was originally sentenced to three-and-a-half-years for violating the conditions of a suspended sentence in an embezzlement case.

   In February 2022, he was put on trial again. This time it was alleged he stole $4.7m (£3.5m) of donations given to his political organisations.

   "You're going to increase my term indefinitely. What can we do about it?" Navalny said during the court hearing.

   He was found guilty, and ordered to spend nine years in a "strict regime penal colony".

   And in August last year, this jail term was extended to 19 years after he was found guilty of founding and funding an extremist organisation - charges he has denied.

7. Putin has been told of Navalny death - Kremlin spokesman

   Russian President Vladimir Putin has been informed of Navalny's death, according to Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov.

   Peskov also said on Friday that Russia's penitentiary service was making "all checks" regarding Navalny's death but that he had no other information about the matter.

8. ALL THIS AND MORE UPDATES AT: Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny dead, says prison service - BBC News