Published: Less than 10 min ago
From solitary confinement to solitary confinement. Life is hard for the imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
On 1 November, he was placed in solitary confinement, or “punishment cell”. He could only be held there for 15 days, according to a post on his Instagram account.
On Thursday, Navalny announced that he had been moved to a cramped cell, which differs from the prison cell in that two books are allowed instead of one. And it is possible to use the prison kiosk, albeit “with a very limited budget”.
The 46-year-old Navalny was arrested in January 2021 when he returned to Russia from Germany, where he received treatment after being poisoned the year before with the nerve agent Novichok, which was developed in the Soviet Union.
Navalny, his supporters in the anti-corruption movement and much of the West blame the Kremlin for the poison attack. Russian authorities deny any involvement.
The dubious judgments against him have long meant that he has not been allowed to run in Russia’s elections. Navalny is one of the main opponents of President Vladimir Putin, who has so far refused to speak Navalny’s name publicly.
More recently, new accusations of terrorism and extremism have been leveled against Navalny. His associates fear the Kremlin intends to keep him behind bars indefinitely. He is now in a high-security prison 25 miles east of Moscow.