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Russian opponent Alexei Navalny was sent to prison north of the Arctic Circle in a colony built on a former gulag in the 1960s.
Almost 2,000 kilometers northeast of Moscow, just above the Arctic Circle, Alexei Navalny's new prison lies amid hundreds of kilometers of tundra on one side and the icy Ural Mountains on the other. The “Penal Colony Number 3” in the small town of Charp in Western Siberia is also nicknamed the “Arctic Wolf”.
“I'm fine. I'm relieved to have finally arrived,” said Alexei Navalny, whose comments were reported by those around him on social networks. After his conviction for “extremism”, Vladimir Putin's opponent and enemy number 1 disappeared, Alexei Navalny, from his prison near Moscow in early December for a “discreet” transfer of 20 days to this new facility.
The Russian penal system, inherited from the Soviet Gulag and little changed, has retained the camps and forced labor. Colony 3 was founded in the early 1960s in the former 501st Gulag and can accommodate almost 1,000 people. It is known for its extremely difficult prison conditions. In winter temperatures never rise above -10°C and could even reach -28°C next Monday. At this time of year daylight lasts no more than two hours.
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According to his verdict, Alexei Navalny must serve a 19-year prison sentence in a “special regime”. If colony number 3 does not accept prisoners of this type in the first place, another colony in Kharp, number 18 and nicknamed “Polar Owl”, has a special regime quarter.
Inherited from the Gulag
“I am in a good state of mind, like Santa Claus,” Alexei Navalny added, referring to his “beard” that grew during this long journey and his new winter clothing adapted to polar temperatures. One of his close associates, Ivan Zhdanov, explained that this famous colony number 3 was “one of the northernmost and most remote colonies” in Russia, where conditions were “difficult.”
The independent media outlet Wyorstka reported that prisoners there were mistreated, lacked clothing and essentials, and suffered physical and psychological abuse. One of them accused the guards of torture, reports the pro-government Russian media Life. “When prisoners enter the colony, they are taken to the public baths. When a person undresses and goes to wash, the water is turned off and masked people come in and start beating them. For me it took about half an hour. There were about 15 people, prisoners and staff,” said the inmate, whose comments were reported by the news site. The Russian judicial authorities have repeatedly pointed out the health deficiencies of this penal colony. The region's public prosecutor uncovered “violations of criminal law” during an audit last summer.
Maximum isolation
“The few material improvements have not changed the military and degrading logic of the prison system [russe] For thirty years, the co-founder of the European Prison Litigation Network, Hugues de Suremain, recently told Le Monde Diplomatique, explaining that the improvements are mainly due to the decline in the number of prisoners in Russia in recent years and have accelerated spectacularly with the War in Ukraine. .
While the number of prisoners was 420,000 in February 2022, today it is 266,000, as Deputy Justice Minister Vsevolod Wukolov announced at a round table in October. Russian forces recruited prisoners of war.
According to those close to him, Navalny was sent to this new prison for “maximum” isolation in the run-up to the Russian presidential elections. “I think that Navalny was sent here precisely to ensure this maximum physical isolation, so even traveling there would be a problem,” human rights defender Igor Kalyapin told the Moscow Times.