No death should be celebrated, I feel. No exceptions.

When Saddam Hussein was executed, I remember some people rejoicing at his death. I have no recollection of the details. Americans? Iraqis? Just people cheering in the streets.

I thought then — this is just so sad, so distasteful. My reaction had nothing to do with my attitude toward Hussein.

I can think of other examples like Bin Laden, or I can consider currently alive individuals whose death will be boldly celebrated by many. This also brings to mind another example — how the families of victims attend the executions of the criminals who inflicted the suffering.

The reason why I decided to write this story is that there are reports of some Russians rejoicing at Navalny’s death. I saw the videos of a couple of people being interviewed in the streets of Moscow and there are discussions by pro-Putin folks about how bad the guy was. Actually, there is even a discussion on Medium about how bad the guy was. One of my loyal followers pointed to me that Navalny was ‘evil’, referring to his nationalistic ideals.

Maybe. Maybe if Navalny came to power we’d see to our horror the most nationalistic leader Russia has ever known. We’ll never know.

I am deeply saddened by his death. He was an authentic and principled force in Putin’s Russia, and his extraordinary bravery cannot be questioned. And he paid the highest price for his fight.