Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny failed to appear for a court hearing scheduled for Monday, December 18. Nothing has been heard from him for 15 days. Amid speculation that he has been secretly transferred to another prison or is seriously ill, the UN has expressed concern about an “enforced disappearance” coinciding with the launch of President Vladimir Putin's campaign for re-election in March. of 2024.
In the Russian region of Vladimir, 100 kilometers east of Moscow, Alexei Navalny was due to appear in court on Monday, December 18 via video call from the detention center where he has been held since 2021.
The hearing was to deal with seven cases against the opposition leader, who is serving a sentence of almost 30 years after being found guilty of crimes such as fraud, slander and extremism.
When he did not appear in court, the judges decided to postpone the hearings “until Navalny's whereabouts are 'established',” as his press secretary, Kira Yarmysh, published on the social network X.
According to Yarmysh, Navalny's team contacted nearly 200 pre-trial detention centers in Russia in hopes of locating the opposition leader, although they were unsuccessful.
'Forced disappearance'
Navalny's team last heard from him on December 5. His lawyers were denied access to see him in prison on December 6 without any explanation, Yarmysh said.
But Navalny's failure to even appear at the court hearing has raised fears about his well-being.
“I am very concerned that the Russian authorities did not reveal the whereabouts and well-being of Mr. Navalny for such a prolonged period that it amounts to an enforced disappearance,” said Mariana Katzarova, the UN special rapporteur on human rights. H H. in the Russian Federation, in a statement on December 18.
Navalny's disappearance coincides with the launch of Putin's campaign. The president announced his candidacy for Russia's 2024 presidential election on December 8, and he is expected to win.
![FILE - In this Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018, file photo, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, center, attends a rally in Moscow, Russia. Navalny, who is President Vladimir Putin's biggest political enemy, has been in prison for various crimes since 2021.](https://s.france24.com/media/display/e164bd4c-988b-11ee-b431-005056a90284/AP23250654215705.jpg)
Putin managed to make changes to the Constitution in 2021 that allow him to run for two more six-year terms, meaning he could remain in power until 2036. He is already the longest-serving Kremlin leader since Josef Stalin, who died in 1953.
Navalny has positioned himself as Putin's biggest critic in Russia. He survived a poisoning with Novichok – a poison developed by the Soviet Union – in 2020 and had to spend months recovering in Germany.
Another Putin critic and leader of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, died in a private plane crash two months after launching an abortive insurrection attempt on Moscow.
While there are legitimate fears about Navalny's safety, the reason for his disappearance may be more mainstream.
“It is very common for prisoners to disappear for several weeks while being transferred between prisons. The most likely hypothesis is that he was transferred to a special colony somewhere far from where he was held until now,” said Oleg Kozlovsky, a member of Amnesty International. specialized in Russia.
A report of Amnesty International from 2017 explains that the size of Russia and the remote location of penal colonies “means that prisoners must be transported over great distances and journeys often last a month or more.”
Prisoners are typically transferred between colonies on special trains without being told where they are going and “in conditions that often amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,” the Amnesty report concluded.
Cars are overcrowded and passengers may lack access to sleeping spaces and bathrooms during the journey.
“Conditions are reportedly worse than in regular remand cells, worse than correctional colonies, and below international standards,” the DD advocacy group wrote. H H.
'Special regime'
Navalny is at risk of this type of long-distance transfer since his last sentencing on August 4, in which he was found guilty of “extremism,” adding 19 more years to his sentence.
His new sentence also specified a change in detention conditions, with a transfer from the “strict regime” penal colony in Vladimir to a more secure “special regime” colony, reserved for the most dangerous prisoners.
“Under special regime conditions there are stricter restrictions on the frequency with which one can have contact with the outside world, the calls one can make and the packages one can receive (…) You will also be in stricter isolation and, therefore, of course, much further from Moscow, which means it will be even more difficult for his lawyer and his family to see him,” Kozlovsky said.
It will also be much more difficult for Navalny to continue his outspoken opposition to Putin. Even from a “strict regime” prison, Navalny was able to communicate with a global audience and organize opposition to the Russian leader.
![In this photo provided by the Moscow court, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny makes a heart with his hands while in a cell during the hearing in Moscow, Russia on February 3, 2023.](https://s.france24.com/media/display/f01364f8-3303-11ee-8a2e-005056a90284/AP23216323243791.jpg)
In a published video On his website on December 7, the opponent urged Russians to vote for any candidate “except for Vladimir Putin.”
“The current repression against leading dissidents and grassroots activists is so severe that it would seem logical that the authorities are trying to restrict Alexei Navalny's access to the outside world as much as possible,” said Morvan Lallouet, a specialist in contemporary Russia at the University of Kent and co-author of 'Navalny: Putin's nemesis, the future of Russia?'.
“It's pretty amazing that he was able to bring up so much in today's Russia. My bet would be that someone in the Administration decided it was a good time to transfer Navalny and therefore he will be missing for about a month,” Stephen agreed. Hall, an expert on Russian politics at the University of Bath.
Concerns about Navalny's health
Navalny's absence has raised new concerns about his health. He has reportedly been kept in unsanitary conditions and repeatedly confined in solitary confinement, which his team says has affected his health.
In January, more than 200 Russian doctors signed a open letter calling on Putin to “stop abusing” Navalny in prison and “deliberately” harming his health.
In early December, Navalny's team said he collapsed in the solitary cell where he was being held and would need an IV to recover.
“It is possible that his disappearance means that Russian authorities are trying to hide a deterioration in Navalny's health. But we remain optimistic and hope that he will simply be transferred between penal colonies,” Lallouet said.
Adapted from its original French version
#Russian #opponent #Alexei #Navalny #missing #middle #Vladimir #Putin39s #reelection #campaign