As the leader of a one-man union, Putin critic Navalny has faced renewed harassment in prison. Because he takes his hands off his back for three seconds, he has now been in solitary confinement for five days. “Kind of boring,” he writes.
According to his own statements, Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny has been transferred to an isolation cell in the Russian penal camp. The punishment is officially justified by the fact that, contrary to an order, he did not hold his hands behind his back for three seconds when walking through the camp, according to a message that Navalny had published on Twitter. The 46-year-old suspects a decision by the political leadership in Moscow behind it. He had also recently angered the prison authorities by founding a prisoner’s union.
According to his own statements, Navalny had to spend three days in the 2.5 by 3 meter cell last week – allegedly because he had not buttoned a button according to the regulations. This time he is to hold out for five days. “Here I am again in my hellish closet with a cup and a book,” wrote the prominent opponent of President Vladimir Putin. “It’s kind of boring, of course. I think I need to learn how to meditate.”
Because of alleged fraud, Navalny is being held in penal colony 6 in Melekhovo, about 260 kilometers northeast of Moscow – under particularly harsh prison conditions. In May, a court upheld the nine-year prison sentence. Internationally, he is considered a political prisoner. Navalny had recovered from a poison attack in Germany in August 2020, but then returned to Russia voluntarily.
In mid-August, Navalny wrote about the founding of his one-man union: “A real union struggle is never easy, especially not in a union in prison.” Navalny works there in a sewing workshop.
The politician, known for his fight against corruption, repeatedly sued the system in order to disclose abuses. The Kremlin only wants slaves without wills in the prisons, 600,000 inmates are affected, said Navalny. With the reference to inhuman working conditions, he is again noticed in the Russian public for the first time in a long time. The Moscow daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta wrote appreciatively that the initiative to stand up for the rights of workers to fair wages brought Navalny back to the attention of domestic politicians.