Moscow
The Kremlin has said that it has no information about jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who reportedly has been missing from prison since December 6, source reported.
Navalny’s lawyers have not been able to see him since December 6.
The prison authorities moved him from the penal colony, where he was serving his sentence for multiple charges, including extremism, but have not said where he was transferred to.
Prison officials told a court on Friday (local time) that Navalny had left the IK-6 facility in the town of Melekhovo in the Vladimir region, about 230 km (140 miles) east of Moscow, source reported, citing Vyacheslav Gimadi, the head of the legal department at Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation.
On being asked if the Kremlin had any information about Navalny, spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: No. I repeat again: we do not have the capacity, or right, or desire to track the fates of those prisoners who are serving sentences by order of a court.
Navalny, who rose to prominence by lampooning President Vladimir Putin’s elite and alleging extensive corruption was sentenced in August to an additional 19 years in prison on top of the 11 and a half years he was already serving, source reported.
We don’t know [where he is] for the 10th day, Navalny’s lawyer posted on X.
The allies of the Putin critic had been preparing for his expected transfer to a special regime high-security facility, the harshest grade in Russia’s prison system, before he was moved.
