Doctors and lawyers have prepared open letters to the Russian president. The petitions demand the improvement of the prison conditions of the opposition politician Aleksei Navalny and an end to torture.
In Russia, lawyers have followed the example of doctors and drafted a petition to the President of Russia to Vladimir Putin opposition politician To Alexei Navalny to improve prison conditions.
Lawyer Viktor Drozdov published a petition on Facebook (you will switch to another service). The letter signed by more than 40 lawyers has been reported by, for example, the Russian opposition media Meduza (you will switch to another service).
– We cannot watch from the sidelines as Alexei Navalny’s constitutional rights are trampled on and his human dignity is violated, the petition states.
Signatory lawyers argue that Navalny’s human rights are repeatedly violated, as he is kept in solitary confinement for long periods of time without reason.
In the letter, Navalny’s arbitrary treatment in prison is compared to torture, which threatens the health and life of the opposition politician.
– It is clear that Navalny is not kept in solitary confinement for real violations. The purpose of the punishments is to torture the prisoner and deprive Navalny of his dignity.
Been in solitary confinement at least ten times
Navalny’s staff wrote last week On Twitter (you will switch to another service)that the opposition politician was locked in solitary confinement for 15 days on New Year’s Eve because he had washed his face at the wrong time.
Navalny’s lawyer Vadim Kobzev wrote in his tweet (you will switch to another service), that Navalnyi fell ill in solitary confinement but had not received proper treatment right away. In addition, Navalny was denied permission for medicines that would have made him feel better.
On Friday, the lawyer tweeted that a doctor from the tuberculosis hospital had visited Navalny, but Navalny had still not received the medicine.
The doctor had visited Navalny after last week Tuesday more than a hundred doctors signed a petition addressed to Russian President Putin defending Navalny’s right to receive treatment in prison.
At the moment of a letter (you switch to another service) has been signed by more than 600 doctors.
729 days in prison
To Navalny according to supporters (you will switch to another service) the opposition politician has been imprisoned for 729 days already. During that time, his opportunities to communicate with the outside world are severely limited.
Navalny’s staff wrote on Twitter on Monday that exactly two years have passed since Navalny returned to Russia and was imprisoned.
According to the tweets, Navalnyi has not given up hope, although he does not know how long he will have to be imprisoned.
Navalny was arrested in early 2021 shortly after he returned from Germany, where the opposition politician was treated for severe poisoning. According to the citizen journalist network Bellingcat, the Russian security service FSB was behind the poisoning.
Prior to that, Navalnyi had been sentenced to a two and a half year suspended prison sentence on embezzlement charges. When Navalnyi returned from Germany, the sentence was changed to imprisonment.
In March 2022, Navalnyi received a new nine-year sentence for fraud and defamation.
Several human rights organizations (you will switch to another service) consider Navalny’s charges political.
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