Alexey Navalny, Russian Opposition Leader And Putin's Critic, Found In Siberian Penal Colony 2 Weeks After Disappearance

(MENAFN- Live Mint) "Found after two weeks of continuous search by his associates at a penal colony in Siberia, Russian opposition leader and President Vladimir Putin's critic Alexey Navalny said on December 26 that he was 'fine' after a 'pretty exhausting' 20-day transfer from his prison to a penal colony beyond the Arctic Circle, reported news agency AFP.\"Don't worry about me. I'm fine. I'm totally relieved that I've finally made it,\" he wrote on X, adding, \"I'm still in a good mood, as befits a Santa Claus\", referring to his winter clothing and beard allies on Monday said he had been transferred to a penal colony north of the Arctic Circle. Navalny also said he had seen his lawyer, reported Reuters, Navalny's spokesperson Kira Yarmysh, said in a statement on X, \"\"We have found Alexey,\" adding, \"He is now in IK-3 in the settlement of Kharp in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District.\"ALSO READ: President Putin's challenger Yekaterina Duntsova barred from contesting elections. Here's whyAccording to Navalny's lawyers, they lost contact with him on December 11. Until then, he was imprisoned in a penal colony about 150 miles east of Moscow, as reported by CNN team added that Navalny had 'never been hidden for so long', and said he missed two scheduled court hearings last week had been in poor health before his disappearance after being 'deprived of food' and 'kept in a punishment cell without ventilation', his team said per CNN, his disappearance has been linked to Putin's announcement to run again in the elections scheduled in 2024, sparking concerns for his well-being and safety Zhdanov, Director of Navalny's anti-corruption foundation, said that the IK-3 penal colony in Kharp where Navalny is now being held, known as \"Polar Wolf,\" is \"one of the northernmost and most remote colonies.\"\"The conditions there are harsh, with a special regime in the permafrost zone. It is very difficult to get there, and there are no letter delivery systems,\" Zhdanov wrote on X.He further said that Navalny's lawyer had not been allowed into the penal colony \"right away.\"\"It seems that the colony was prepared for his arrival in advance. The head of the Federal Penitentiary Service, Arkady Gostev, was there in April, and perhaps it was then that they decided to transfer Alexey there,\" he added's sentence:In August, the Russian opposition leader was sentenced to 19 years after being found guilty of creating an extremist community, financing extremist activities, and numerous other crimes READ: 'Missing' Putin critic Alexei Navalny found after nearly 3 weeks, in prison with 'highest possible level of isolation'He was already serving 11 and a half years in a maximum security facility on fraud and other charges that he denies, according to CNN, his supporters claimed that his arrest and incarceration were a politically motivated attempt to stifle his criticism of Vladimir Putin to Putin:Reports say Navalny has been one of the most serious threats to Putin's legitimacy during his rule used his blog and social media to expose alleged corruption in the Kremlin as well as Russian business and organised anti-government street protests was taken from Russia to Germany in 2020 after he was poisoned with Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent. Navalny had to be airlifted from the Siberian city of Omsk and arrived comatose at a hospital in Berlin January 2021, Navalny was immediately incarcerated upon his return to Russia on charges of violating the terms of his probation related to a fraud case brought against him in 2013, which he also dismissed as politically motivated had also campaigned from prison against Russia's war against Ukraine and has even attempted to mobilise public opposition to the war, reported CNN agency inputs.

MENAFN26122023007365015876ID1107658872