My Take | With two dead dissidents, one matters but the other does not

To understand why the Western news media have gone full blast over Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader and Putin critic, while staying almost completely silent about Gonzalo Lira, an American blogger and commentator, you only need to know that the former died in a Russian prison but the latter in a Ukrainian jail.

No one can doubt the sincerity and courage of Navalny who died in an Arctic penal colony aged 47. He fought for democracy in Russia, took on the Russian strongman and paid the ultimate price. He could have stayed abroad after being treated for poisoning, likely an assassination attempt, in Berlin but chose to return to his homeland. That sealed his fate.

Virtually all major Western leaders and news outlets have lionised the Russian opposition politician. There were even small rallies in Israel, which featured the slogan “Russia will be free”. It’s not clear whether the participants were aware of its similarity to “Palestine will be free”, which has been shouted in mass protests across the globe against the Israeli brutal siege and destruction of Gaza.

You probably have never heard of Lira, who died last month in a Ukrainian jail after eight months. I wrote about his death shortly after his father in New York released a public statement denouncing the US government, but particularly its embassy in Kyiv, for ignoring his son’s plight. In his last handwritten note, Lira said he was denied even basic medicine.

Last year, Ukrainian authorities said Lira was making “pro-Russian” statements and arrested him for the “production and dissemination of materials justifying Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine”.

Lira didn’t have the same moral fibre as Navalny. He probably never expected to be arrested, let alone die in prison, whereas Navalny knew he would be endlessly harassed if not jailed indefinitely once he returned to Russia.