Russian opponent Alexei Navalny was taken from his prison to an unknown destination, his supporters said on Friday, a move that could mean his transfer to a penitentiary with harsher conditions. According to Kira Iarmich, the exiled spokesperson for the anti-corruption activist, a court informed the opponent’s lawyer that Alexeï Navalny had “left the Vladimir region”, around 250 km east of Moscow, where he had until then been incarcerated.
Sentenced to 19 years in prison for “extremism”
“We don’t know to which destination exactly,” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter), specifying that this transfer would have taken place on December 11. His relatives have not heard from the opponent since December 6. According to the Russian daily Kommersant, the court which was examining a complaint by Alexeï Navalny against the administration of his prison in the Vladimir region announced on Friday that Alexeï Navalny had left his colony “in accordance with the verdict of the Moscow Municipal Court of August 4, 2023 , which has entered into force”.
This verdict sentences Alexeï Navalny to 19 years in prison for “extremism”, which he must spend in a “special regime” colony, the category of establishments where the conditions of detention are the harshest and which are usually reserved lifers and the most dangerous prisoners. “The arrival of Alexei Navalny (in his new colony) will be notified within the framework of current legislation,” says the document read in court, according to Kommersant.
Transfers from one penal colony to another in Russia often take several weeks of traveling by train with stages, with detainees’ relatives not being heard from during this period. This lack of news has aroused concern in several Western capitals. On Friday, a spokesperson for French diplomacy called on Moscow to ensure “the health of its detainees, in particular political prisoners”. On Monday, the White House said it was “very concerned” and once again demanded the release of the opponent.
Arrested in January 2021, Alexeï Navalny, 47, had until now been serving his sentence in the Vladimir region. He was very often placed in solitary confinement, in retaliation for alleged violations of prison rules. In early December, Russian authorities initiated new charges of “vandalism” against the charismatic anti-corruption activist, which could add three more years of detention to his sentence. Alexei Navalny narrowly escaped death when he was poisoned in August 2020, spending several months convalescing in Germany. He accuses the Kremlin, which denies any involvement.