Kremlin critic Navalny moved to tougher penal colony
Navalny in Pokrov – opposition activist sentenced to nine years in prison
Source: dpa / Alexander Zemlianichenko
Until now, the opposition Russian activist Alexei Navalny was in the penal colony in Pokrov. Now he has been transferred to a camp with harsh prison conditions. Meanwhile, those close to him did not know where Navalny was and feared for his life.
DrRussian government critic Alexei Navalny, imprisoned since 2021, was transferred to another criminal colony – according to his own statements, on stricter terms. The 46-year-old said, Wednesday, that he has been transferred to Colony 6 in Melishow, near the city of Kovrov, and is currently in quarantine. Instagram with.
Relatives, staff, friends and supporters have previously worried about the whereabouts of Kremlin President Vladimir Putin’s staunch opponents. Navalny’s spokeswoman, Kira Garmisch, said the day before that his life was in danger.
The lawyer of the prominent anti-corruption fighter did not receive any information in the concentration camp in Pokrov on Tuesday about where the opposition leader was taken. Garmisch said the lawyer now saw Navalny in the criminal camp. Garmisch said the authority is doing its best to make it difficult for lawyers and the family to contact Navalny.
In May, a court upheld Navalny’s 9-year prison sentence for fraud. This made transportation to a penal camp with stricter prison rules legally binding. Navalny rejects all allegations and considers them politically motivated.
Kovrov camp is located about 150 kilometers from the Pokrov penal colony. This is about 260 kilometers northeast of the Russian capital, Moscow. In Russian prisons for dangerous criminals, inmates are less likely to meet with relatives, receive parcels and letters, or go out in the fresh air.
Garmisch said he might be killed in the brutal criminal camp system, referring to the toxic attack on Navalny in August 2020. Navalny, who narrowly escaped, blames Putin for the assassination.
At the end of May, Navalny himself reported a new indictment from the Russian judiciary. This time, it’s about extremism and a possible prison sentence of another 15 years. His anti-corruption foundation was previously categorized as extremist in Russia.
Navalny was arrested at Moscow airport upon his return from Germany in January 2021. He had previously been treated in Berlin for a poisoning he had suffered in Russia with a neurotoxin from the Novichok group, which he blamed on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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