MOSCOW: Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has been tracked all the way down to a penal colony north of the Arctic Circle, his spokeswoman mentioned on Monday (Dec 25), after supporters misplaced contact with him for greater than two weeks.
Navalny was tracked all the way down to the IK-3 penal colony in Kharp within the Yamal-Nenets area, about 1,900km northeast of Moscow, spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh mentioned.
Navalny’s lawyer managed to see him on Monday, Yarmysh added.
“Alexei is alright,” she mentioned.
Navalny’s allies, who had been getting ready for his anticipated switch to a “particular regime” colony, the harshest grade in Russia’s jail system, mentioned he had not been seen by his legal professionals since Dec 6 and raised the alarm about his destiny.
“Many due to our supporters, activists, journalists and the media who’re involved about Alexei’s destiny and who don’t get bored with writing in regards to the scenario,” Navalny lawyer Ivan Zhdanov mentioned.
Navalny’s new house, referred to as the “Polar Wolf” colony, is taken into account to be one of many hardest prisons in Russia. Most prisoners there have been convicted of grave crimes. Winters are harsh – and temperatures are as a consequence of drop to round -28 levels Celsius there over the subsequent week.
About 60km north of the Arctic Circle, the jail was based within the Sixties as a part of what was as soon as the GULAG system of compelled Soviet labour camps, in line with the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper.
“The situations there are harsh, with a particular regime within the permafrost,” mentioned Leonid Volkov, an aide to Navalny. He mentioned it was tough to speak with prisoners held on the distant web site.
