Transfer to notorious penal colony: Navalny sends a sign of life

Relatives and supporters were very worried – for a day there was no trace of the imprisoned Kremlin critic Navalny. Now it is clear: The 46-year-old was transferred to a notorious penal colony.

The decisive moment came on Tuesday: A lawyer who wanted to visit Alexei Navalny in the camp was told in a nutshell that there was no convict with that name in the Pokrov penal colony.

It’s a phrase that resembles a code in Russia. Which means nothing else than that the Kremlin critic will be relocated. From a general penal camp to a strict regime penal colony – as the courts had decided. Where exactly, however, that is also part of the ritual of the so-called staging, the authorities were silent about it.

Navalny sees his life threatened

“Every time he is taken from colony to colony, we look for him. And for a long time,” criticizes Navalny’s lawyer Olga Mihajlowa. And this despite the fact that relatives must be notified and there is no reason not to inform the lawyers. Relatives and lawyers often have to wait days, sometimes even weeks, before they find out where someone has been transferred, until direct contact can be established again.

It is a time of anxious waiting. Also in the case of Alexej Navalny, whose safety and health are not only concerned by his lawyers and close confidants, but also by Western politicians. “Of course there are threats,” reports Mihajlova. “Alexei always says his life is in danger. That’s why we lawyers visit him in the prison camp as often as possible to make sure everything is fine with him.”

These are concerns that the Kremlin doesn’t share, as Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said succinctly: “We don’t share them.”

Penal colony notorious in prisoner circles

Surprisingly, Navalny himself let it be known in the evening that everything is actually in order. He published corresponding posts on social networks. He is currently in quarantine – in the Melechowo penal camp.

Like the Pokrov camp, the colony is located in the Vladimir region, not far from Moscow. The camp is notorious in prisoner circles. There were allegations of abuse of power and torture. It is a strict regime penal colony. That means there are significantly more restrictions – also when it comes to contact with the outside world. Navalny himself expects isolation and more pressure.

“There will be another sentence”

Nine more years in the penal camp lie ahead of the anti-corruption fighter. And his lawyer Mikhailova fears that it will probably not stay that way. “We still have criminal proceedings ahead of us that are currently being examined,” she says. “There will be another sentence.”

As paradoxical as it sounds, the processes are now important for Navalny. They give him a last remnant of publicity in Russia. He is using them to harshly judge the Russian President, whom he calls a warmonger. And to call on his followers not to be intimidated by the system.

Giving up is not an option for him. And his lawyers want to continue fighting for him. After all, the entire course of action by the judiciary against Navalny lacks any basis.