Navalny’s team announced that the politician, who is serving a 19-year prison sentence, has missed several court hearings, including this week’s.
“Today, Alexey again did not participate in the meeting, using the possibilities of a video conference,” his press secretary Kira Yarmish announced on social networks on Tuesday.
She also stated that she is no longer in the prison colony IK-6, where Navalny has been staying until now – the oppositionist has been transferred, but no one knows where.
This was the seventh day that Navalny’s allies have not been able to contact him, the AFP news agency reported.
This summer, the court extended Navalny’s sentence to 19 years, and also decided to transfer him to a harsher – “special regime” – prison.
Russia has a huge prison system and it often takes weeks or longer to move prisoners by train between more distant prisons.
Navalny’s allies linked this court decision and the oppositionist’s disappearance to Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s announcement of his candidacy for the presidential election in 2024.
US officials said Monday that they were deeply concerned by what Navalny’s team had said and the opposition figure’s disappearance.
“He should be released immediately. First of all, he should not have been imprisoned and we will work with our embassy in Moscow to find out as much as possible,” US National Security Council coordinator John Kirby told reporters.
Moscow condemned the increased US interest in Navalny’s disappearance.
“We are talking about a prisoner who has been found guilty by law and who is serving his sentence. Any interference, including from the US, is unacceptable,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Navalny’s lawyers have repeatedly tried to gain access to two penal colonies where Navalny, who has previously suffered from serious health problems, is believed to be staying, CNN reported, citing Navalny’s press secretary Jarmish.
They were informed that the 47-year-old man is neither in IK-6 nor in IK-7 penal colony, said Jarmiša.
“Neither IK-6 nor IK-7 answered them on Friday and throughout today,” Jarmiša wrote. Navalny was last imprisoned in the IK-6 penal colony east of Moscow.
Navalny was scheduled to appear in court remotely via video conference call on Monday, his spokeswoman said. The prison authorities told Navalny’s team that he could not attend the court hearing because there were problems with the electricity in the prison.
Also, Jarmis stated that the team is concerned about Navalny’s poor health.
“The fact that we can’t find Alexey is especially worrying because last week he got sick in the cell – he started getting dizzy and laid down on the floor,” she told the X app, adding that Navalny received immediate medical attention.
Navalny is the Kremlin’s most visible oppositionist these days – he has organized anti-government protests and has used his blog and social networks to expose corruption in the Kremlin and Russian business, and has also expressed his desire to run for the presidency of Russia.
Also this year, shortly after Kremlin master Putin announced his candidacy in next year’s presidential elections, Navalny called on Russian citizens to vote against Vladimir Putin and to cast their votes for any other candidate.
Three years ago, Navalny was taken to an Omsk hospital after he fell ill on a plane flying from Tomsk to Moscow. Later, the laboratory of the German Armed Forces determined that the Russian opposition leader had been poisoned with a substance from the “Novichok” class.
He was detained in Russia in early 2021 while returning from Germany, where he was receiving treatment after an attempted poisoning by Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) agents.
A month later, the oppositionist was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for allegedly violating the terms of the suspended prison sentence he was sentenced to in 2014 while receiving treatment in Germany.
In March of the following year, he was sentenced to another nine years in prison for “fraud” and “contempt of court”, and in August 2023 – to 19 years in prison for “extremism”.
At the beginning of October, the homes of Navalny’s lawyers were also searched in Russia and all the defenders of the opposition leader were detained.
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2023-12-12 11:27:35
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