Alexei Navalny's death: When Vladimir Putin's fiercest critic flagged his 'freezing' Arctic prison
Alexei Navalny was moved to the Arctic prison, notorious for long and severe winters, in December.
Alexei Navalny, one of the harshest critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has died in an Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence.
His death was announced by Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service which said that Navalny felt sick after a walk on Friday and lost consciousness at the penal colony.
The prison, notorious for long and severe winters, is located in the town of Kharp, in the Yamalo-Nenets region, about 1,900 kilometers northeast of Moscow. Navalny, who was sentenced on charges of extremism, was moved here in December.
On January 10, Navalny appeared through a video link from Kharp for the first time. Russian news outlets release images of him in black prison garb and with a buzz cut.
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Addressing the Supreme Court in Moscow, Navalny described the harsh conditions in the prison located above the Arctic Circle.
Navalny cracked jokes about the freezing temperatures and asked if officials at his former prison threw a party when he was transferred. He also apprised the court of a 10-minute limit on eating food in the prison.
“It is impossible to eat in 10 minutes,” he told the supreme court judge, according to CNN.“If you eat every day within 10 minutes, then this meal turns into a rather complex process.”
He said that prison officials have isolated him in a tiny punishment cell over a minor infraction.
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“The punishment cell is often a very cold place,” he said. “Do you know why people choose a newspaper there? To cover themselves. Because with a newspaper, I can tell you, judges, it is much warmer to sleep for example than without one. And so you need a newspaper so as not to freeze.”
Navalny alleged that authorities in the penal colony have restricted the number of religious texts he can have.
“(The regulations) say that I am allowed to have 10 books. I need 2 books to practice my religion. One book is not enough for me, it directly violates my religious rights.”
He added: “I want to have in my cell 10 books. I need them for education, I need them for religious practice.”