(Reuters) – Russian opponent Alexei Navalny was suddenly transferred from penal colony No. 2 in Pokrov, 120 km from Moscow, where he had been imprisoned since March 2021, to a high security penitentiary center located even further of the Russian capital.
Having become the main opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin for a dozen years, Alexei Navalny was sentenced in February 2021 to two and a half years in prison for violation of his judicial control after a previous conviction for embezzlement, an accusation that he rejects.
The lawyer and anti-corruption activist was then sentenced on March 24 to an additional nine years in prison for fraud and contempt of court.
Alexeï Navalny, who denounces fabricated accusations, had pleaded not guilty.
The court also ordered that he be transferred to a high security prison, where his visiting rights and correspondence would be further restricted.
Leonid Volkov, Alexei Navalny’s right-hand man, stated that the latter’s lawyer had been informed during the day, during a visit to penal colony No. 2 in Pokrov, that no prisoner by the name of Navalny was there.
“We do not know where Alexei is now, or to which colony he was taken,” said the chief of staff of Alexei Navalny via Telegram messaging.
Subsequently, the director of an NGO protecting the rights of prisoners and monitoring the regional penitentiary system reported that Alexei Navalny had been transferred to the penal colony IK-6 in Melekhovo, about 250 kilometers east of Moscow.
No comment could be immediately obtained from the prison services.
Two weeks ago, Alexei Navalny announced that he was the subject of a new charge for forming an extremist organization and inciting hatred towards the authorities, which could earn him fifteen years in prison.
(Reuters editorial staff, French version Jean-Stéphane Brosse and Jean Terzian)