Russian opposition leader Navalny confirms prison move
15 June 2022, 18:14
Mr Navalny was arrested in January 2021 upon returning from Germany, where he had been recuperating from a poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin.
Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has confirmed he was transferred to another prison and is in quarantine.
Mr Navalny wrote on the Telegram messaging app that he was moved to the maximum security IK-6 prison in the Vladimir region village of Melekhovo, about 155 miles east of Moscow.
Mr Navalny, the most determined political opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, previously was held at the IK-2 penal colony in the Vladimir region.
The facility in the town of Pokrov stands out among Russian penitentiaries for its especially strict inmate routines, which include standing at attention for hours. IK-6 is located about 100 miles to its east.
“My space travel continues,” Mr Navalny wrote on Wednesday. “I’ve moved from ship to ship.”
He said he was confined in a “strict regime” and in quarantine, but did not say why or what his conditions were.
Mr Navalny was arrested in January 2021 upon returning from Germany, where he had been recuperating from nerve-agent poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin.
He received a two-and-a-half-year sentence for allegedly violating the conditions of his parole while outside Russia.
In March, Mr Navalny was sentenced to nine years in prison on charges of fraud and contempt of court, allegations he rejected as a politically motivated attempt by Russian authorities to keep him behind bars for as long as possible.
The new conviction was part of a Kremlin crackdown on Mr Navalny’s supporters, other opposition activists and independent journalists that appeared aimed at stifling dissent.
Mr Navalny’s close associates have faced criminal charges and many have left Russia.
Russian authorities shut down his group’s political infrastructure — an anti-corruption foundation and a nationwide network of offices — by labelling it as an extremist organisation.
