“No, we don’t know anything about it,” the woman’s voice told, visibly annoyed. The guest did not want to introduce himself. During the short conversation, she did not mention Alexei Navalny’s name either.

Yet this is what all Russian bureaucrats – even the lowest ranks – are doing in the style of President Vladimir Putin. Usually he refers to the exhibitor as “this patient” or “the Berlin patient”.



The “Rzeczpospolita” interviewer refused to answer our following questions, for example, is it true that they in the labor camp use illegal psychological pressure on prisoners. “Please visit our website, all the information is there,” she said and dropped the phone.

Pokrov’s ieragier clearly doesn’t have its website. The interviewee was about the website of the Federal Prison Service administration in the Volodymyr region (Pokrov is located in this district, 100 kilometers east of Moscow). But we will not find out from her if there is any pressure on the inmates in IK 2.

Officially, the camp is called IK-2, i.e. Isprawitielnaja Kołonia 2 (Correctional Colony 2). It is known in the Russian legal and criminal circles for its strict compliance with all regulations. It was learned about Alexei Navalny, who was classified by the Prison Service as part of the “wishing to escape” group. In practice, this means that he must show up to the guard every two hours during the day.

It is much worse at night. Every hour a sound is heard from the loudspeaker in the cell: “Attention, control.” Then a guard enters and wakes the prisoners, and checks whether they are in the room. He records his presence in a special booklet. All this measure that prevents prisoners from sleeping is used as a form of psychological torture – there is a surveillance camera in the cell.

Navalny began complaining of severe back pain while in detention. In the labor camp, the right leg was numb. The cause of these diseases is not known: is it necessary to sit with the head lowered and arms folded on the back (prisoners spend most of the day like this) or maybe it is the result of poisoning last year with Noykids. The prison doctor prescribed him only 2 pills of ibuprofen a day. The keys even made it impossible to hand over a piece of paper on which a Moscow physician had drawn exercises that exhibitors had to perform for rehabilitation.

“Not only are they not treating him, but they are applying a conscious strategy (as much as possible) to undermine his health,” Navalny’s lawyer, Vadim Copzio, who managed to get insight from Navalny, wrote on Twitter.

“It was clear that he had not received any medical treatment (…) which of course led to health complications, and now he has lost sensation in his right leg. (…) At this rate, he will soon need crutches.”