Japan won’t ‘provoke Russia’ by bringing up Navalny’s death, even as it continues backing Ukraine

Tokyo is being criticised for not standing up for human rights by calling out Putin or Moscow over opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s death in custody

Analysts say Japan wants to avoid a ‘potential backlash’ as it remains reliant on Russian oil and gas

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Flowers lie in front of a picture of the late Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, in Stuttgart. Photo: dpa

Published: 6:30pm, 27 Feb 2024Updated: 6:48pm, 27 Feb 2024

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is being roundly criticised for his failure to condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin or Moscow in connection with the death in captivity of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, with some analysts arguing Tokyo is staying quiet to avoid conflict.

“Japan is thinking that it should not antagonise Russia as any retaliation could be very damaging,” said Hiromi Murakami, a professor of political science at the Tokyo campus of Temple University. “Kishida and his cabinet members are keeping their distance because they fear a potential backlash.”

Navalny died on February 16 at the age of 47 in a notorious penal colony in the Arctic Circle, with Russian officials claiming he collapsed while on a walk at the gulag.

Suspicions that the Russian president was behind the death of yet another one of his critics have been rife, with accusations coming from some of the world’s top leaders. US President Joe Biden said: “There is no doubt that the death of Navalny was a consequence of something Putin and his thugs did.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a message on X: “Navalny stood up for democracy and freedom in Russia – and apparently paid for his courage with his life.”

In a joint communique issued at the Munich Security Conference the day after Navalny’s death, the foreign ministers of the G7 expressed their shared outrage and demanded that Russia halt the persecution of political dissent and limitations on civil rights.

In Tokyo, however, Kishida and Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa have remained tight-lipped about Navalny’s death, and there have been no moves within the Diet towards a resolution condemning Moscow or even a request for clarification over the circumstances of his death.