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Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said prison officials ordered him to be held in solitary confinement for at least three days, citing minor offenses, in retaliation for his activism in prison.
Posts about the punishment appeared on Navalny’s social media accounts on Monday.
It is unclear how the politician obtained the information – the post said those in solitary confinement were not allowed to have visitors, letters or packages, and that Navalny’s only possessions were “a mug and a book” ‘, and he has a pen and some paper for over an hour a day.
Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s worst enemy, was arrested on his return from Germany in January 2021, while he had been recovering from a nerve agent poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin.
He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for violating the conditions of his parole outside Russia.
Navalny, who was sentenced to nine years in prison in March for fraud and contempt of court, refuted the charges, arguing that Russian authorities were politically motivated to try to keep him in custody as long as possible.
During his time in custody, his social media accounts were regularly updated with posts about the life sentence.
Last week he announced the formation of a prisoners union, which he said was the only member at the time.
Navalny said the union has successfully advocated replacing halter stools with chairs from the prison sewing shop where he works.
According to Monday’s post, union activity was the real reason prison officials put him in solitary confinement.
“The Kremlin wants to see its gulag made up of silent slaves. And here I am, not begging for pardon, but to unite some people and demand some laws.”
The post said Navalny was summoned by prison officials and told video surveillance showed him regularly unbuttoning his prison clothes in the work area.
“This undoubtedly describes me as a desperate villain. As such, the decision has been made to send me to punitive solitary confinement for three days,” the post read.
Prison officials told him his stay would be extended if Navalny “does not change (his) attitude”.
The post described solitary confinement as “the harshest punishment in the legal prison hierarchy” – a small concrete cell that was “very hot and almost airless”.
A metal bed was attached to the wall and the mattress and pillows were only taken away at 9pm and 5am.
“Visits are now allowed, letters are not allowed, parcels are not allowed. This is the only place in the prison where smoking is not even allowed,” the post read.
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