The reason is absurd
Navalny has to go back to the punishment cell
January 9, 2024, 10:00 p.m
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After Alexei Navalny was transferred to a prison in the Russian polar region, the harassment of the opposition politician continued there. This is the 24th time he has to go to the isolation cell. Despite everything, Putin’s opponent doesn’t lose his sense of humor.
The imprisoned Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny says he has been moved to solitary confinement again. Navalny said on social networks that he was given seven days in the punishment cell. Navalny regularly reports harassment by prison authorities, who repeatedly send him to solitary confinement for alleged violations of the rules.
This time, according to him, the guards accused him of not presenting himself properly. According to Navalny’s spokeswoman, this is his 24th time in such a punishment cell. Navalny has already spent a total of 273 days in isolation.
At the end of December, the 47-year-old was transferred to a remote penal colony in the Russian polar region. During the 20-day detention transfer, his relatives had received no news from Navalny and were very worried about him. His supporters suspect that Russian authorities are trying to further isolate Navalny ahead of March’s presidential election, which will see current President Vladimir Putin emerge as the winner.
“Wonderfully fresh air”
The penal colony where Navalny is currently being held is also called “Polar Wolf” and is a successor facility to the Soviet gulag. The opposition politician shared a photo of a tiny barred prison yard where he can walk early in the morning in freezing temperatures.
Navalny, who likes to strike an ironic tone in his messages, spoke of the “wonderful fresh air that blows into the courtyard despite the wall” and emphasized that the mercury has not yet fallen below -32 degrees Celsius.
Navalny is considered Putin’s harshest domestic critic. After a poison attack, for which he blames the Kremlin, he traveled to Germany for treatment. In January 2021, Navalny returned to Russia and was immediately arrested.
According to a verdict handed down against him in the summer, Navalny must serve his sentence in a colony with harsher prison conditions. These are usually only intended for life sentences and particularly dangerous prisoners.