Navalny transferred to prison after hunger strike: Allies
In this file photo taken on February 20, 2021 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny stands inside a glass cell during a court hearing at the Babushkinsky district court in Moscow Photograph:( AFP )
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Navalny declared a hunger strike in March to demand proper medical treatment for a growing list of health complaints, including back pain and numbness in his limbs
Navalny declared a hunger strike in March to demand proper medical treatment for a growing list of health complaints, including back pain and numbness in his limbs
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has been transferred from a prison hospital back to his penal colony after receiving treatment following a hunger strike, his allies said Monday.
Navalny was jailed for two and a half years in February on old embezzlement charges he and his supporters say are politically motivated.
Also read | Kremlin critic Gudkov leaves Russia fearing new arrest
He was sentenced shortly after returning to Russia from Germany, where he was receiving treatment for a near-fatal poisoning attack with a nerve agent.
President Vladimir Putin's most outspoken domestic critic declared a hunger strike in March to demand proper medical treatment for a growing list of health complaints, including back pain and numbness in his limbs.
Also read | Putin critic Alexei Navalny sues prison for censoring his newspapers
Navalny in April was transferred to a prison hospital in another penal colony as the West warned it would hold the Kremlin responsible for the state of his health.
The opposition politician called off the strike 24 days later.
"Navalny has been transferred back to the Penal Colony No. 2," Navalny's team said on Twitter on Monday.
The prison is located in the town of Pokrov 100 kilometres (60 miles) east of Moscow.
A court in Moscow is considering whether to designate Navalny's political network as an "extremist" organisation, which would remove potential challengers to the ruling United Russia party ahead of parliamentary elections in September.
A decision is expected as early as this week.
Last Friday, Putin approved an anti-extremism law expected to be used to ban his allies from running in elections. The Kremlin chief signed off on the legislation the day Navalny marked his 45th birthday behind bars.
Many of his close allies are either outside Russia or under arrest.
On Sunday, prominent Kremlin critic and former opposition lawmaker Dmitry Gudkov said he had left Russia for Ukraine due to pressure from authorities ahead of the elections.
Citing sources close to the Kremlin, Gudkov, 41, said that if he did not leave he would be arrested over a "fake" criminal case against him.
