Alexei Navalny denounced that he had been threatened: they want to send him to disciplinary prison

Russian opponent Alexei Navalny, currently in prison, said on Monday that he had received several warnings since his incarceration, which would mean a possible hospitalization in a disciplinary dungeon.

In a message published on his account on the Instagram network, he declares to have received “Six warnings in two weeks” in the prison of Cover, located about 100 km from Moscow, where he is serving a sentence of two and a half years in prison.

“In Russian prisons, there are two main forms of sanctions: warning and internment in a disciplinary cell. And with just two warnings, they can send you there. And it is not at all comfortable: the conditions of detention there are close to torture ”, wrote the opponent.

Navalny posts frequently from his place of incarceration messages on social networks, and his lawyers refuse to say how he does it because he does not have access to the Internet.

In this last post, explain that was the subject of “twenty disciplinary warnings”, especially to have “Get out of bed 10 minutes” earlier than usual, or also by “Refuse to perform” compulsory physical exercises in the morning.

Victim of poisoning by a nerve agent in August of last year, Navalny attributes this to the Kremlin, which rejects any implication.

Anti-corruption activist and fierce critic of the president Vladimir Poutine, was arrested last January, on his return from Germany to Russia, where he was recovering from the poisoning.

In February, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for a fraud case dating from 2014 and that he, along with NGOs and many Western capitals, claim that this is political manipulation.

Last week, his relatives have expressed fears for his health while in detention, and the opponent complained of severe pain in the back and right leg. The administration, for its part, considers that it is in a “satisfactory” state.

PERSECUTION AGAINST ALLIES

During, persecution is also intensifying against allies and collaborators of the Navalny.

Ivan Zhdanov, director of the Navalny Anticorruption Foundation, accused authorities arrested his father over the weekend in an attempt to pressure him for his opposition activities, which include the organization of a new demonstration against the government.

Zhdanov said police arrested his retired father in the southern city of Rostov on Don for alleged abuse of power after searching his home and questioning him overnight.

“I have no doubt that this criminal case is related to me and what I do”said Zhdanov, who is out of Russia and part of a team of anti-Kremlin activists trying to mobilize support for a new protest this spring that authorities will oppose.

Rostov police did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the case.

Zhdanov said his father had various health issues and he doubted the 66-year-old could survive his pre-trial detention.

Authorities accuse allies of illegally encouraging people to participate in protests which, they said at the time, were not licensed and posed a risk to public health due to COVID-19.

They presented to Navalny as a West-backed puppet on a mission to destabilize Russia before the legislative elections to be held in September, an accusation that he denies.

Many of Navalny’s closest allies, including his spokesperson and brother, are under arrest. domiciliary and face charges.

Zhdanov’s father worked as a civil servant in a village in the Nenets region of northern Russia, but has been retired since last summerZhdanov said on Facebook.

The case against him concerns his recommendation to allocate social housing to a woman whose family had previously received housing allowance, Zhdanov said. The housing allowance was then canceled due to the previous subsidy, He said.

(With information from AFP and Reuters)

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