Navalny, 46, is serving a nine-year prison sentence in a penal colony near the city of Vladimir. He allegedly embezzled money. He said the charges and convictions were politically motivated.
“The fact is that I am too politically active for a prisoner,” Navalny said. “The prisoners’ union that I founded is a source of great irritation.” Last week, he said he had received a similar five-day sentence for walking without his hands behind his back. On August 15, he announced that he had been jailed for three days for not buttoning the top button of his prison uniform.
Navalni was arrested last year when he returned to Russia from Germany. He had been treated there after surviving an attack with the nerve agent novichok in Siberia. The Kremlin denies involvement in the assassination attempt. His cell can be compared to a hot “concrete kennel” without fresh air, he said earlier.
“There is only a mug and a book in my cell. I only get a spoon and a plate during meals. No visitors, no letters, no packages.” This is the only place in the prison where even smoking is prohibited, he added.