From Le Figaro with AFP
Published 54 minutes ago, updated 4 minutes ago
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny before a court hearing to consider an appeal against his prison sentence in Moscow, Russia May 17, 2022. EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA/Portal
People close to the Russian enemy had not heard from him for almost three weeks.
Jailed Russian opponent Alexei Navalny, whose relatives have not heard from him for almost three weeks, is in a penal colony in Kharp in the Russian Arctic, his spokesman said on Monday.
“We found Navalny. He is in penal colony number 3 in the town of Kharp,” said Kira Iarmych on
19 years in prison for “extremism”
Kharp, a small town of around 5,000 residents, is located in Yamal-Nenets, a remote region in northern Russia. It lies beyond the Arctic Circle and is home to several penal colonies. Alexei Navalny, anti-corruption activist and Vladimir Putin's bête noire, is serving a 19-year prison sentence for “extremism.” His relatives and associates had not heard from him since early December, meaning he was likely moved from the colony in the Vladimir region, 250 kilometers from Moscow, where he had been held until now.
According to the “extremism” verdict handed down to Mr. Navalny, the opponent must serve his sentence in a “special regime” colony, the category of facilities where prison conditions are the harshest, typically life sentences and the most dangerous are prisoners. Kharp is home to a “special regime” colony, colony number 18 “Polar Owl,” although Mr. Navalny is currently held in another.
“It was clear from the beginning that the authorities wanted to isolate Alexei, especially before the presidential election scheduled for March 2024,” one of his close associates, Ivan Zhdanov, responded to X. Transfers from one penal colony to another in Russia often require several weeks of train travel in stages, during which nothing is heard from the relatives of the prisoners. This lack of news about the enemy had raised concerns in several Western capitals and at the United Nations.