Navalny in solitary confinement for 18th time after new sentence

Alexey Navalny, a Russian opposition politician, has been sent to solitary confinement once more, his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh says.

“Alexey was sent to solitary confinement yet again after he was slapped with a new sentence. He was there before the sentence, too, but got out right before the verdict. He’s there for 14 days, this is his 18th time, which means he will spend a total of 207 days there,” she wrote.

A Moscow court sentenced jailed opposition politician Alexey Navalny to 19 further years in a supermax security prison on 4 August after finding him guilty of establishing an “extremist community”.

The “supermax” security mode implies a higher degree of isolation than the one Navalny is subject to in his strict security prison now. He will only be allowed to enjoy one long visit and two short ones, as well as to receive only one package and one parcel a year. In addition, this mode requires prisoners to live in cells of three or four people, they are not allowed to visit the dining room, and when they are taken out of the cell, they must move with their hands behind their backs. If a convict is found guilty of misconduct, they may be deprived of visits or be transferred to a solitary cell.

As of now, Navalny serves his time in a strict regime colony. During the last year, he was sent to a punishment cell, a small cell for one prisoner, multiple times. The prison’s personnel also come up with additional ways to torment and humiliate the politician. Navalny says he is being forced to share the room with insane or unhygienic people and to listen to the same Putin’s message instead of radio transmissions over and over again. As he fell ill, doctors were not allowed to see him or give him medicines. Navalny developed a back pain, and his eyesight crippled, too. His family was banned from visiting Navalny, which forced them to sue the prison in early July.

Navalny’s lawyer Vadim Kobzev reported on 21 July that his client had been sent to solitary confinement for the 17th time.