Penal Colony No. 2 ‘breaks people’: Inside the prison where Alexei Navalny has been sent

Penal Colony No. 2 is three hours outside of Moscow

Credit: DIMITAR DILKOFF /AFP

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has been transferred to a penal colony that has been described as "one of the worst" in Russia, Moscow said on Sunday.

The opposition figure, who was jailed upon return to Russia last month after recovering from a poison-induced coma, is now believed to be in penal colony No. 2 in the town of Pokrov, which is three hours outside Moscow, according to Alexey Melnikov, the secretary of the state-run Public Monitoring Commission (ONK).

Ruslan Vakhapov, a human rights activist who specializes in defending prisoners for local NGO Jailed Russia, described the conditions as grim. 

“It’s one of the worst colonies in Russia. Former inmates are afraid to speak out about the conditions because they risk repercussions after they leave the prison,” Mr Vakhapov told The Telegraph.

“Navalny will probably be isolated from the outside world and other prisoners will be prevented from talking to him,” Mr Vakhapov said.

Prisoners face abuse by prison guards if they violate a strict schedule, he said, while the colony administration encourages prisoners to control and monitor other inmates.

“There are no rights for prisoners in Russia,” Mr Vakhapov said.

“Navalny faces immense pressure that can psychologically weaken him, but I think the administration will be afraid of using physical force on him. It could damage their reputation completely,» he added. 

Officers of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service walk near the gate of penal colony No. 2

Credit: DIMITAR DILKOFF /AFP

Last month a Moscow court sentenced Mr Navalny to two and a half years in prison for violating the terms of his probation, putting an end to a five-week-long saga of his return to Russia, arrest and massive nationwide protests.

Former inmate and nationalist activist Dmitry Demushkin, who spent two years in the colony for inciting hatred, told Russian independent media that the prison "psychologically breaks you" by cutting you off from outside contact.

“My relatives found out where I was only three weeks after my arrival,” Mr. Demushkin told independent channel TV Rain, claiming that he never received any of the letters that were sent to him in prison.

Mr Navalny’s arrival has not yet been confirmed by his legal team and he could be moved again.

“Until he is seen by his lawyer it is hard to confirm that he is actually there," Mr Vakhapov said, explaining that there have been cases when former inmates have dressed up in similar clothing just to show that they have arrived. 

He will be quarantined as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus before joining other prisoners in the colony, the public monitoring commission said, according to the state-run RIA news agency.

Mr Navalny, Vladimir Putin’s most prominent critic, suffered a near-fatal poisoning in Siberia last August with what has since been identified as Novichok. 

He accuses Putin of ordering his attempted murder. Mr Putin has denied that, dismissing the incident as part of a Western disinformation campaign to discredit him.