Allies of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said on Friday that it was still unclear where he was after prison authorities said he was no longer in the penal colony where he had been serving his sentence.
Navalny, a former lawyer who rose to prominence by lampooning President Vladimir Putin's elite and alleging vast corruption, was sentenced in August to an additional 19 years in prison on top of 11-and-a-half years he was already serving.
Allies, who had been preparing for his expected transfer to a "special regime" colony, the harshest grade in Russia's prison system, said Navalny has not been seen by his lawyers since December 6.
A Navalny lawyer, Vyacheslav Gimadi, said that prison officials told a court on Friday that Navalny had left the IK-6 facility in Melekhovo, 235km east of Moscow. They did not say where he was taken.
"Where he was taken is not known," Navalny's spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, said, adding that lawyers had been told that he left the Vladimir region where IK-6 is located on December 11.
"Let me remind you that the lawyers have not seen Alexei since December 6. Why they were not allowed to meet with him, if Alexei was still in IK-6, we do not know."
Alexei Navalny missing in Russia's penal system, say allies
Image: REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina
Allies of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said on Friday that it was still unclear where he was after prison authorities said he was no longer in the penal colony where he had been serving his sentence.
Navalny, a former lawyer who rose to prominence by lampooning President Vladimir Putin's elite and alleging vast corruption, was sentenced in August to an additional 19 years in prison on top of 11-and-a-half years he was already serving.
Allies, who had been preparing for his expected transfer to a "special regime" colony, the harshest grade in Russia's prison system, said Navalny has not been seen by his lawyers since December 6.
A Navalny lawyer, Vyacheslav Gimadi, said that prison officials told a court on Friday that Navalny had left the IK-6 facility in Melekhovo, 235km east of Moscow. They did not say where he was taken.
"Where he was taken is not known," Navalny's spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, said, adding that lawyers had been told that he left the Vladimir region where IK-6 is located on December 11.
"Let me remind you that the lawyers have not seen Alexei since December 6. Why they were not allowed to meet with him, if Alexei was still in IK-6, we do not know."
Navalny earned admiration from Russia's disparate opposition for voluntarily returning to Russia in 2021 from Germany, where he had been treated for what Western laboratory tests showed was an attempt to poison him with a nerve agent.
Navalny says he was poisoned in Siberia in August 2020. The Kremlin denied trying to kill him and said there was no evidence he was poisoned with a nerve agent.
His supporters cast him as a Russian version of South Africa's Nelson Mandela who will one day walk free from jail to lead his country. But Russian authorities view him and his supporters as extremists with links to the CIA intelligence agency who are seeking to destabilise Russia. They have outlawed his movement, forcing many of his followers to flee abroad.
US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday that Washington was deeply concerned about Navalny's wellbeing and had reminded the Russian authorities that they were responsible for what happened to him.
The Kremlin, which said it did not track the movements of individual prisoners, told Miller and his colleagues to mind their own business.
When asked on Friday if the Kremlin had any information about what was happening to Navalny, spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: "No. I repeat again: we do not have the capacity, or right, or desire, to track the fates of those prisoners who are serving sentences by order of a court."
READ MORE:
EU grants Ukraine membership talks but can't agree on financial aid
Zelensky makes 11th hour plea for Ukraine war funds in Washington
Cabinet endorses PetroSA deal with Russia's Gazprombank to restart Mossel Bay refinery
UN marks 75 years of human rights declaration in shadow of Gaza
'Lots of people' are urging Putin to run in presidential election
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most read
Latest Videos