Kremlin foe Navalny was moved from a jail east of Moscow, his allies say, however new web site is unclear

TALLINN, Estonia — Allies of imprisoned opposition chief Alexei Navalny mentioned his lawyer was advised in court docket on Friday that he had been moved from the penal colony east of Moscow the place he has been serving time however was not advised the place he was taken.

The disclosure that Navalny was moved out of Penal Colony No. 6, within the city of Melekhovo within the Vladimir area, got here at a listening to on a lawsuit he had filed in opposition to officers on the most safety facility. The listening to was adjourned after that.

The whereabouts of Navalny, 47, have been unknown since his legal professionals misplaced contact with him after Dec. 6.

Navalny spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh mentioned the politician’s lawyer was advised in court docket that the politician “left the Vladimir region” on Monday.

“Where exactly (he was moved to) – unclear,” she wrote on X, previously known as Twitter.

The unbiased information outlet Sota reported {that a} doc from the Vladimir department of the State Penitentiary Service was learn on the listening to, stating that Navalny left the penal colony “for a correctional facility located outside the Vladimir region” and additional data will likely be supplied as soon as he arrives on the vacation spot. No particulars concerning the vacation spot got.

Yarmysh confirmed the accuracy of the report back to The Associated Press.

Navalny has been serving a 19-year time period on prices of extremism at Penal Colony No. 6, about 230 kilometers (140 miles) east of Moscow. He was as a consequence of be transferred to a “special security” penal colony, a facility with the best safety degree within the Russian penitentiary system.

Russian jail transfers are infamous for taking a very long time, typically weeks, throughout which there’s no entry to prisoners, with details about their whereabouts restricted or unavailable. Navalny may very well be transferred to any of numerous such penal colonies throughout Russia.

Navalny has been behind bars since January 2021. As President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest foe, he campaigned in opposition to official corruption and arranged main anti-Kremlin protests. His arrest got here as he returned to Moscow from Germany, the place he recuperated from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.

Navalny has since been given three jail phrases and spent months in isolation in Penal Colony No. 6 for alleged minor infractions. He has rejected all prices in opposition to him as politically motivated.

Navalny‘s allies sounded the alarm final week, saying his legal professionals weren’t let into the penal colony to see him, that letters to him weren’t being delivered, and that he was not showing at scheduled court docket hearings by way of video hyperlink.

Yarmysh mentioned Dec. 8 that these developments precipitated concern, provided that Navalny not too long ago fell sick and apparently fainted “out of hunger.” She mentioned he’s being “deprived of food, kept in a cell without ventilation and has been offered minimal outdoor time.”