Russia’s Navalny to be moved from penal camp to high-security prison

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny will be transferred from a penal camp to a high-security prison for serious criminals.

A court in Moscow rejected an appeal of the verdict from a lower court on Tuesday, the Interfax News Agency reported, meaning that a nine-year prison sentence for fraud and other alleged crimes will now go into effect.

Meanwhile, it is unclear when Navalny is to be transferred.

In Russian, prisoners for serious offenders, inmates were rarely allowed to meet relatives, receive parcels and letters, or go outside for fresh air.

However, Navalny’s team fears that the 45-year-old would be imprisoned much further away from Moscow.

The opposition politician narrowly survived a poison attack in the summer of 2020, from which he spent months recovering in Germany.

He is considered one of President Vladimir Putin’s most powerful critics.

Navalny, who had been in a penal camp about 100 kilometres from the Russian capital since early 2021, was convicted of the fraud charges in March after a controversial trial.

He was already in prison for other charges from a 2021 trial.

He used the appeal hearing, which he attended by video, to criticise Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“You are suffering a historic defeat in the stupid war you started.

“It has no goal and no meaning,’’ he said. (dpa/NAN)