Life inside is hidden from view, behind tall metal gates and barbed wire surrounding this dilapidated-looking facility, in the Vladimir region of Russia, a two-hour drive from the capital, Moscow.
“I had no idea it was possible to organize a real concentration camp 100 km from Moscow,” said Navalny, adding that his head had been shaved.
“Video cameras are everywhere, everyone is being watched, and at the slightest violation they make a report. I think someone upstairs has read Orwell’s’ 1984”, “continued Navalny, referring to the classic dystopian novel.
Life in prison, in the city of Pokrov, could become even more banal, stressful and potentially more dangerous, according to a former prisoner.
Konstantin Kotov, in penal colony No. 2, served two miserable sentences – the first for four months, the second for six months – for violating Russia’s anti-protest laws.
He was last released in December and was afraid to return, but agreed to travel with CNN to explain how the penal colony works inside.
“From the first minutes you are here, you experience mental and moral pressure,” he told CNN.
“You are forced to do things that you would never do in normal life. It is forbidden to talk to other convicts. They force you to get to know the list of employees’ names. leg, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. You can’t sit down. They don’t allow you to read, they don’t allow you to write a letter. It could take two weeks, it could take three take weeks. “
Navalny was sent to prison after a court in Moscow replaced his suspended sentence with imprisonment on February 2 for violating his probation.
Now confirmed that he is in Penal Colony 2, he is expected to serve the remainder of his sentence there.
‘Torture by TV’
Kotov, the former prisoner, explained that prisoners in barracks sleep in iron bunk beds. About 50 to 60 men slept in his room, he said, each with only a small amount of living space.
“You get up at 6 in the morning, you go into the courtyard nearby and listen to the national anthem of Russia – the national anthem of the Russian Federation every day,” he said.
‘You can’t write, you can’t read. For example, I watched TV almost all day, Russian federal channels. This is torture by TV. ‘
It’s what he calls the “senseless daily activity,” which Kotov says sets the tone, but then there are the constant corrections for any perceived misconduct.
“I was reprimanded for not saying hello to an employee and for having undone my top button,” said Kotov.
At the slightest violation, a prisoner could be placed in solitary confinement, Kotov said, perhaps for months at a time.
Order is maintained by both prison guards and inmates known as “nurses” who work with the prison administration.
Although the nurse is also a convict, Kotov said, anyone who doesn’t stick to the leash is trusted.
“They are like spies who follow you every step of the way and report to the administration,” said Kotov.
Alexander Kalashnikov of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) has said that Navalny is treated like any other prisoner.
“Everything is done within the framework of the law and current legislation,” he told reporters in late February.
Empire of Fear
Violence is common in Russian prisons. Disturbing video released by the Russian investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta shows prisoners being beaten by guards in a penal colony in Yaroslavl, the region where Navalny is being held. A Russian court has convicted several people for involvement in what has become a national scandal, but former inmates say it is not an isolated case.
Kotov says he saw prisoners being beaten by nurses in Penal Colony No. 2. Usually they unscrewed a chair leg and hit people on their heels – painfully and unobtrusively – he told CNN.
Navalny said in his Instagram post that he has not yet witnessed any violence, but he “easily believes the countless stories” of brutality in the colony because of the fear he has seen among his fellow inmates.
He said he was woken every hour by a security guard who shined a camera and light in his face to check if he was there, as he had been called a “flight risk.”
Kotov said he feared for Navalny’s mental state rather than his physical health, and said he believes Navalny’s high profile would mean officials wouldn’t want him to suffer physical harm.
“They want to take his voice away,” Kotov told CNN. “That’s their goal.”
Prison expert Pyotr Kuryanov, of the Defending Prisoners’ Rights Foundation, said the situation was “very dangerous” in the prison camp, which he called an “empire of fear.”
“It’s hard to stay there and keep a cool head and not respond to provocations,” he told CNN. “It is extremely psychologically severe. The smallest possible violation … can cause serious physical harm to a convicted person.”
In the rows of two-story barracks, prisoners can be ordered to clean floors with toothbrushes and other humiliating and pointless tasks meant to humiliate, Kuryanov said.
“I don’t rule out Alexey being the victim of a nervous breakdown,” he added.