The Russian prison authorities have imposed twelve months of punishment on Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in a special cell, one day after Justice rejected the appeal of his 19-year sentence for extremism.
As reported this Wednesday by Navalny’s team on Telegram, “they have imposed the maximum possible sentence, twelve months.”
This cell (EPKT) is considered in the Russian penitentiary system “the greatest punishment” for an inmate, regardless of whether or not it is a maximum security prison.
Navalni assures that as soon as his appeal was rejected, he was transferred to the prison commission, where this punishment was imposed on him because he was an “incorrigible” prisoner.
“I feel like an exhausted rock star on the verge of depression. I have managed to reach the top of the chart and I no longer aspire to anything. On the other hand, I did not rise to the top, but have fallen to the bottom. And there, as is well known, you can always fall even lower,” he commented.
The opponent’s co-religionists, in prison since 2021, call on their supporters to protest so that Navalny is not deprived of medical assistance and family visits, among other things, during the next year.
Since he was sentenced to eight years in prison for fraud, Navalny has been in a prison in the Vladimir region, about 200 kilometers from Moscow.
The Russian Court of Appeals on Thursday dismissed the appeal presented by Navalni’s defense and kept in force the 19-year prison sentence for extremism.
In principle, by rejecting the appeal, the new 19-year sentence comes into force and Navalni must be transferred to a high-security prison.
However, his supporters were already commenting last night that there was a possibility that the opponent would remain near Moscow in order to also be prosecuted for terrorism.
The opponent was sentenced to 19 years for creating an extremist organization, in reference to the Anti-Corruption Fund (FBK), founded in 2011 and banned two years ago.
The FBK greatly irritated the Kremlin because it denounced the illicit enrichment of senior officials, including the president, Vladimir Putin, whom it accused in 2021 of having a sumptuous palace on the shores of the Black Sea.
In addition, charges were also brought against him for financing and instigating extremist activities, creating an organization that violated the rights of citizens and involving minors in dangerous actions, in reference to unauthorized opposition demonstrations.
