Long-time Vladimir Putin critic Alexei Navalny is in deteriorating physical condition while in an isolated Russian prison camp, according to allies and lawyers who would meet him on Wednesday.
The 44-year-old was sent to a “completely lawless” penal colony last month to serve a two-and-a-half year sentence on allegations of embezzlement that human rights activists have called fabricated and politically motivated.
The dissident was arrested after returning from Germany, where doctors said he had been poisoned twice with a Soviet-era nerve agent.
Navalny began experiencing severe back pain last week, along with a numbness in his legs that made him unable to stand, ally Leonid Volkov said. The political prisoner said he had received only two ibuprofen from doctors in response to the pain.
Navalny’s lawyers said they were not allowed to visit him for a scheduled daily meeting on Wednesday due to “unspecified security measures,” and expressed concern that prison wardens were trying to cover up the seriousness of his illness.
Prison officials did not respond to a request for comment.
“Given all the circumstances known to us, the sharp deterioration in his health can only cause great concern,” Volkov said.
The news from the notoriously strict prison comes a day after protesters announced plans to stage the largest anti-Kremlin protest in modern history this spring, in an effort to liberate Navalny.
Kremlin officials warn that demonstrations are illegal, claiming that Navalny is a puppet sent by Western countries to destabilize Moscow.
An Instagram account of Navalny supporters on Wednesday documented his health concerns, according to The Guardian.
An earlier post quoting a letter from the prisoner reportedly described the IK-2 penal colony in Pokrov as a “real concentration camp 100 km from Moscow,” and compared the atmosphere to George Orwell’s 1984.
In another letter from the prison published on Instagram this week, Navalny compared his fellow inmates to Star Wars stormtroopers, The Guardian said.
“They have cigarettes in their teeth. Instead of laser guns, they have metal crowbars, ”he reportedly wrote. “But wherever they are, at 6.05 am they listen to the national anthem, at 6.10 am they do their exercises and at 6.30 am they put the porridge in their metal bowls and pour sweet tea into their metal cups. May the force be with you. “
With pole wires