Anthony Albanese says Alexei Navalny’s treatment ‘unforgivable’ and Putin responsible for his death

The Australian foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, and the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said Vladimir Putin and the Russian government were responsible for Alexei Navalny’s death. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has joined western governments across the globe in holding Vladimir Putin responsible for the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Navalny, 47, died while being held in a jail about 65km north of the Arctic Circle, where he had been sentenced to 19 years under a “special regime”.