Russian opponent Alexei Navalny returns to speak on social media from the penal colony in the Russian Arctic where, we learned yesterday, he was transferred. «Don't worry about me. I'm fine", wrote the dissident on
The Russian opposition figure, whose family had not heard from him for almost three weeks, is in Kharp, his spokeswoman said yesterday. «We found Navalny. He is in penitentiary colony number 3 in the city of Kharp, in the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous district,” said Kira Iarmych , specifying that the opponent “is well” and that his lawyer visited him.
Kharp, a small town of about 5,000 people, is in a remote region of northern Russia beyond the Arctic Circle that is home to several penal colonies. Navalny is serving a 19-year prison sentence for "extremism". His family and collaborators had not heard from him since the beginning of December.
According to the verdict, Navalny must serve his sentence in a "special regime" colony , a category of facilities where the conditions of detention are the harshest and which are usually reserved for lifers and the most dangerous prisoners. “From the beginning it was clear that the authorities wanted to isolate Alexei, especially before the presidential elections” scheduled for March 2024, Ivan Jdanov, one of his close collaborators, commented on X. Transfers from one prison colony to another in Russia often require several weeks of train travel.
(Unioneonline/D)
