The unexpected death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in mysterious circumstances at a Russian penal colony has drawn comment from around the world, especially about his mistreatment by the Russian State and Vladimir Putin.
What is often left out in such commentary, certainly by mainstream media, is the role that faith played for Navalny in his activism and opposition to Putin, and the fact that he had become a Christian.
In BBC Radio 4’s recent “Thought for the Day” on 19 February, Reverend David Wilkinson, a professor of theology and religion at St John’s College at Durham University, highlighted this less reported fact, drawing attention to when Navalny appeared in court three years ago this week to appeal his arrest after returning to Russia from exile.
