Latest update:
Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has been seen alive for the first time since December 6 and has been able to speak to his lawyer. This was reported by his spokesperson Monday on X. He is imprisoned in the IK-3 penal colony in Siberia, almost 2,000 kilometers from Moscow. According to his spokesperson, he is doing well.
Navalny has been the most potent voice of opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent years. He has also spoken out strongly against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Due to his political position regarding Putin and the war, Navalny has been sentenced to 19 years in prison for ‘extremism’, a sentence he served until early this month in a penal colony near Moscow. Violence was often used against him there, and he had to spend a lot of time in an solitary cell.
In early December, Navalny suddenly disappeared. He reportedly fell ill, but one of his close aides stated that “it was clear that the authorities wanted to isolate Alexei, especially just before the presidential elections” scheduled for March 2024. Until Monday, Navalny had completely disappeared from the map, he said no longer registered at the prison where he was previously held, his lawyers could not see him and he was no longer present at hearings by video link. According to the camp management, this was due to ‘electricity problems’.
Also read
Where is Navalny? The disappearance of Putin’s arch-enemy is raising growing concerns