UPDATERussian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been unexpectedly transferred to a high-security penal camp in Melechovo, about 250 kilometers east of Moscow. That’s what the local observer Sergei Yazjan said. He monitors the rights of convicts in the region in collaboration with prison authorities. According to him, it concerns colony IK-6.
Kremlin critic Navalny was sentenced to a total of 11.5 years in prison and has so far been in correctional facility No. 2 in Pokrov, almost 120 kilometers from Moscow. When his lawyer arrived there on Tuesday, according to Navalny’s chief of staff Leonid Volkov, he was told by the board: “That detainee is not here.”
Navalny’s loved ones said earlier Tuesday that they did not know where the Kremlin critic was and they feared for his life. They can only believe the rumors about his transfer to Melechovo when his lawyer can see him. According to spokeswoman Kira Yarmysj, the authorities are doing everything they can to make it as difficult as possible for his lawyers and family members to reach Navalny.
IK-6 is a notorious prison, where torture, beatings, humiliation and rape – by jailers and other inmates – are said to be commonplace.
poisoning
Navalny was arrested in January 2021 at the airport of the Russian capital. He was returning from Berlin, where he had been treated for novichok poisoning. In all likelihood, the Russian secret service FSB was behind this. At the end of last month, Navalny reported via Instagram that a new criminal case has been opened against him that could earn him another up to 15 years in prison if found guilty.
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