MOSCOW (AP) — Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny says prison authorities ordered him to spend at least three days in solitary confinement, citing a minor infraction, in retaliation for his activism behind bars.
A post about the punishment appeared on Navalny’s social media accounts on Monday. It was not immediately clear how the politician got the information: the publication says that those in solitary confinement cannot receive visitors, letters or packages, the only possessions at Navalny’s disposal are “a cup and a book”, and he arrives to have a pen and some paper for just over an hour a day.
Navalny, the fiercest foe of President Vladimir Putin, was arrested in January 2021 upon returning from Germany, where he had been recovering from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin. He received a two and a half year sentence for violating the conditions of his parole while outside Russia.
In March, Navalny was sentenced to nine years in prison on charges of fraud and contempt of court, charges he dismissed as a politically motivated attempt by Russian authorities to keep him behind bars for as long as possible.
During his time behind bars, his social media accounts have been regularly updated with posts about life in prison. Last week, Navalny announced the creation of a prison union, of which he said he was the only member at the time. Navalny said the union has successfully advocated for replacing backless stools with chairs in the prison sewing shop where he works.
According to Monday’s post, union activity was the real reason prison officials sent him to solitary confinement: “The Kremlin wants to see their GULAG made up of voiceless slaves. And here I am, instead of apologizing, bringing some people together and demanding that some laws be observed.”
The post said that Navalny was summoned by prison officials and told that video surveillance showed him regularly unbuttoning his prison clothing while in the work area. “This certainly marks me out as a hopeless villain. So, the decision was made to send me to punitive solitary confinement” for three days, the post read.
If Navalny “doesn’t change (his) attitude,” his stay there would be extended, he was told by prison officials, according to the publication.
The publication described isolation as “the most severe punishment in the legal hierarchy of the prison”, a small concrete cell, in which “it is very hot and there is almost no air”. There is a metal bed attached to one wall, and a mattress and pillow are only brought in at 9:00 pm and removed at 5:00 am
“Visitors are now allowed, letters are not allowed, packages are not allowed. It is the only place in the prison where smoking is not even allowed,” the post read.
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