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Alexei Navalny is no longer with us.

With this petition we want to pay tribute to his fight for democracy, and to recognize in his person the immeasurable contribution to this fight of all victims of the Russian regime.

We propose renaming the section of Behrenstraße between Glinka and Wilhelm Streets to Alexei Navalny Street. This section is home to the Consulate of the Russian Federation and the residences of Russian diplomats.

Alexei Anatolievich Navalny was a Russian lawyer, anti-corruption activist, opposition politician and dissident. He was politically persecuted, barely survived poisoning, then imprisoned where he was tortured for years and finally killed on February 16, 2024.

Throughout his political career, Alexei Navalny performed outstanding deeds and will be remembered first and foremost as an undoubted leader of the anti-Putin opposition.

Alexei was characterized by his honesty, openness and fearlessness in his beliefs. At the time of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Navalny was already in custody. During a regular court session, he said the following

 "Dear court, I want to state officially and on the record: I am against this war. I consider it immoral, fratricidal and criminal. It was unleashed by the Kremlin gang to make it easier for them to steal. They kill in order to steal. I thought it was important to say it under the record. So that it stays. So that I myself will always remember - I said these words at the moment when they should have been said. I'm against this war. Say it too."

In a message to the Russian people, Alexei Navalny urged us in the event of his assassination not to give up: 

"If this [death] happened, it means that we are unusually strong at this moment, since they decided to kill me. We need to use this strength: not to give up, to remember that we are a huge force that is under the oppression of these bad dudes just because we can't realize how strong we really are. All it takes for evil to triumph is the indifference of good people. Therefore, inaction is not an option!"

We call for the street to be renamed now, without waiting for the statutory deadline of five years. Immediate recognition of Alexei Navalny's immeasurable sacrifice is necessary to draw attention to the fate of thousands of other political prisoners around the world - who are still alive and can still be saved!

As of February 18, 2024 (two days after the announcement of Alexei Navalny's death), this petition has already been signed in Germany by several NGOs and individuals:

• Garry Kasparov (Russian opposition politician, World Chess Champion)
• Boris Zimin (Russian entrepreneur, public figure and philanthropist)
• Ludmila Ulitskaya (writer)
• Olga Romanova (human rights activist) and Russland hinter Gittern e.V. (Russia behind Bars)
• MEMORIAL Deutschland e.V.
• Axel Springer Freedom Foundation
• Christian Mihr (human rights activist)
• Demokrati-JA e.V.
• #FreeNavalny Deutschland
• Reforum Space Berlin
• PANDA platforma e.V.
• Quarteera e.V.
• Forum russischsprachiger Europäer e.V. (Forum of Russian-speaking Europeans)
• Association of Municipal Deputies "Deputies of Peaceful Russia"
• Freies Russland NRW e.V.
• Solidarus e.V.
• Berlin anti-war initiative NxT
• Deutsch-Russischer Menschenrechte-Dialog e.V. (German-Russian Dialogue on Human Rights)
• Leonid Gozman (Russian opposition politician)
• Sergei Lukashevsky (human rights activist) and "Radio Sakharov"
• Allianz für ein freiheitlich-demokratisches Russland e.V. (Alliance for a Free Democratic Russia)
• Initiative "Horizonte Exilhilfe" (Horizons. Exile Aid)
• Public Foundation MRR ("My Russian Rights")
• Stuttgart activist group
• Initiative "Evropeyskiy Peterburg" (European Petersburg)
• Initiative "Peredachi" (Shipments for political prisoners)
• Alexander Delfinov (poet and performer)
• Andrei Arkhangelsky (journalist)
• Mikhail Kaluzhsky (playwright, theater researcher)
• Yuri Pivovarov (historian, political scientist)
• Marat Gelman (gallery owner)
• Alexander Smolyansky (director)
• Andrey Mosiseikin (municipal deputy of the Dvortsovy district of St. Petersburg)
• Olga Galkina (Russian opposition politician)
• Elena Efros and Elena Ilyina (participants of the initiative "Tales for Political Prisoners")
• Initiative Stop dictators HD
• Artur Solomonov (writer)
• Vladimir Kaminer (writer)
• Juri Wechsler (journalist)
• Ekkehard Maaß (german bard and human rights activist)
• Elena Stein (social activist)
• Maria Tunkara (blogger)
• Alexander Mindlin (Berlin guide)
• Richard-Roman King (Omsk Civic Association)

At a rally of the #FreeNavalny Deutschland initiative in front of the Russian Embassy in Berlin on February 18, 2024, another 150 people signed the petition (we cannot publish their names for security reasons, but they are available in writing).

The list of signatories will be updated. If you would like to sign this petition on behalf of your initiative or NGO, but cannot do so on this resource, please contact us directly via "mail(at)demokrati-ja.org".