Alexey Navalny said that he was in IK-2 in the city of Pokrov, Vladimir region . On social networks in the afternoon of March 15, posts appeared on his behalf, in which the politician spoke about the conditions of detention. “I have not yet seen any violence or even a hint of it, although in the tense postures of the convicts, standing at attention and afraid to turn their heads once again, I easily believe the numerous stories that here, in IK-2“ Pokrov ”, quite recently people They beat him half to death with wooden hammers, ” wroteNavalny. He stressed that the colony is practicing “literal compliance with endless rules”, and added that the FSIN was able to “arrange a real concentration camp 100 kilometers from Moscow.” At the same time, Navalny wrote that, on the whole, everything is fine with him: “I call my new home like that – ‘our friendly concentration camp’”.
His lawyers met with Navalny in the colony . According to them, the politician is “cheerful and cheerful.” Lawyer Olga Mikhailova said that Navalny is now in quarantine for new arrivals along with five other prisoners. As the lawyer Vadim Kobzev specified, in two weeks the politician will be transferred to a general detachment. Mikhailova noted that the lawyers were allowed into the colony after a five-hour wait, and they talked to Navalny through the glass. According to her, the employees of the colony communicate with the politician politely and exclusively under video recording. Since in the pre-trial detention center, Navalny was recognized as prone to escape, he is constantly checked. “He is checked and recorded on camera every two hours during the day, every hour at night,” Mikhailova said.
Navalny’s lawyers, relatives and associates did not know where he was for three days. On March 12, the politician was taken from the pre-trial detention center in the town of Kolchugino in the Vladimir region, where he was taken from the Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention center after a court verdict that replaced his suspended sentence in the Yves Rocher case with a real one. TASS, citing a law enforcement source, reported that Navalny was convoyed to IK-2, but the lawyers in the colony itself could not confirm or deny this information. The FSIN did not officially comment on anything (and has not commented on it so far). Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said on March 15 that the Kremlin “has no information about the whereabouts of the convicts in the Russian Federation.”
The fact that Navalny was transferred to IK-2 was indicated by indirect signs. His associates published a copy of a letter from the 235th garrison court in Moscow, which asked the head of the colony in Pokrov to ensure Navalny’s participation in the court session on March 16 via video link. At this meeting, it is planned to consider a complaint by Navalny’s defense about the inaction of the investigation in connection with his poisoning. However, a letter from the court addressed to the head of the colony was sent back on March 1, when Navalny was in a pre-trial detention center in Kolchugino.
Journalists from Open Media reported on March 15 that they managed to transfer 1,312 rubles to the politician’s personal account in IK-2 – this can only be done if the prisoner is actually in the colony. At the beginning of March, the money could not be transferred. “It’s because we didn’t have it. And now, yes, everything is fine, ”the accounting department of IK-2 told reporters.
In late February – early March, after the verdict, there was no reliable information about Navalny’s whereabouts for six days. On February 25, it became known that the politician had been taken away from the Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention center. The Public Monitoring Commission (POC) of Moscow said that Navalny was being convoyed to a colony, but the lawyers did not confirm this information. On February 27, several media outlets reported , citing sources, that the politician had been sent to IK-2. But on March 3, a post on his behalf was published on Navalny’s instagram stating that he was in a pre-trial detention center in Kolchugino.
IK-2 is a “red” colony, where the administration has complete control over the life of the prisoners. In early March, the FBK released a video about this colony, which said that prisoners were beaten there, including immediately after arrival. Activist Konstantin Kotov , who was serving a sentence in IK-2, said that prisoners who stand up for their rights can “be reprimanded for anything, even an unbuttoned button,” which would subsequently prevent parole. His lawyer Maria Eismont noted that in IK-2 “everything is aimed at making a person feel his complete dependence on the administration.”
(C)MEDUZA 2021