Russia
Kremlin opponent Navalny transferred to isolation cell
Had recovered from a poison attack in Germany in August 2020, but then returned to Russia voluntarily: Alexej Navalny. photo
© Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP/dpa
Alexej Navalny is said to have disobeyed an order while walking through the camp. Now he has to stay in a small cell for five days as punishment.
According to his own statements, Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny has been transferred to an isolation cell in the Russian penal camp.
The punishment is officially justified by the fact that, contrary to an order, he did not hold his hands behind his back for three seconds when walking through the camp, according to a message that Navalny had published on Twitter. The 46-year-old suspects a decision by the political leadership in Moscow behind it. He had also recently angered the prison authorities by founding a prisoner’s union.
According to his own statements, Navalny had to spend three days in the 2.5×3 meter cell last week – allegedly because he had not buttoned a button according to regulations. This time he is to hold out for five days. “Here I am again in my hellish closet with a cup and a book,” wrote the prominent opponent of President Vladimir Putin. “It’s kind of boring, of course. I think I need to learn how to meditate.”
Because of alleged fraud, Navalny is being held in penal colony 6 in Melekhovo, about 260 kilometers northeast of Moscow – under particularly harsh prison conditions. In May, a court upheld the nine-year prison sentence. Internationally, he is considered a political prisoner. Navalny had recovered from a poison attack in Germany in August 2020, but then returned to Russia voluntarily.