Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died in an Arctic penal colony after being sentenced by the Putin regime to 19 years in prison for “extremism” (REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov)
The Russian dissident Alexei Navalnywho was the president’s main political opponent Vladimir Putin Before his death in February, I thought I would die in prisonaccording to their posthumous memories which will be published on October 22.
The New Yorker published excerpts from the book, including writings from Navalny’s prison diary and earlier. “I will spend the rest of my life in prison and die here“he wrote on March 22, 2022.”There will be no one to say goodbye… All anniversaries will be celebrated without me. I will never see my grandchildren”, he continued.
Navalny was serving a 19-year prison sentence on charges of “extremism” in an Arctic penal colony. His death on February 16, at age 47, sparked widespread condemnationy many blamed Putin.
Navalny was arrested in January 2021 upon returning to Russia after suffering a serious health emergency due to having been poisoned in 2020.
“The only thing we have to fear is that we will hand over our homeland to be plundered by a band of liars, thieves and hypocrites.”he wrote on January 17, 2022.
The diary reveals the harsh punishment that the prison regime and his hunger strike exerted on his bodyaccording to other extracts published in the London Times.
“Today I feel crushed. We went to the bathhouse. I could barely stand standing under the hot shower. My legs gave out. It’s already night and I have no strength at all. I just want to lie down and, for the first time, I feel emotionally and morally depressed”, he wrote in an entry.
Navalny during a prison hearing (REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/File)
The excerpts capture the loneliness of imprisonmentbut also a touch of humor. For example, on July 1, 2022, Navalny described his typical day: waking up at 6:00 am, having breakfast at 6:20 am, and starting work at 6:40 am.
“At work, you sit for seven hours at the sewing machine on a stool below knee height“, wrote. “After work, you continue sitting for a few hours on a wooden bench under a portrait of Putin. This is called ‘disciplinary activity’”.
The book, titled “Patriot,” will be published by the American publishing house Knopf, which is also planning a Russian version. “It is impossible to read Navalny’s prison diary without being outraged by the tragedy of his suffering and death.“wrote the editor of The New YorkerDavid Remnick.
In the last excerpt published in the magazine, dated January 17, 2024, Navalny answers the question posed to him by his fellow prisoners and prison guards: Why did he return to Russia?
“I don’t want to give up my country or betray it. If your convictions mean anything, you must be prepared to defend them and make sacrifices if necessary.“, said.
Speculating on the consequences of any attempt to assassinate him, Navalny said of his memoirs: “They will be my monument”.
“If they kill me, my family will receive the advance payment and the royalties that, I hope, will be“, wrote.
“Let’s face it, if a shady assassination attempt with a chemical weapon, followed by a tragic death in prison, can’t sell a book, it’s hard to imagine what would.”he joked. “What more could the marketing department ask for?”.
Alexei Navalny died in the remote prison known as “Polar Wolf”, in the Arctic Circle (REUTERS/Stringer)
In Russia there is currently a network of almost 700 penal colonies, where the more than 460,000 inmates throughout the country are locked up. Activists, non-governmental organizations and former prisoners agree that the IK-3 penitentiary in which he was held opposition leader Alexei Navalny It is, without a doubt, one of the hardest.
A Russian lawyer stated earlier this year that the conditions to which they are subjected in that prison are often equivalent to a death sentence. According to him, the “Polar Wolf” colony, as the Arctic prison is also known, is “essentially legalized torture” that is designed to physically and mentally break the prisoners.
“It is a disgusting colony”he told the Russian news site Medusa.
Yamalo-Nenets, where the prison is located, is an autonomous region in the Ural Federal District, characterized due to its extremely cold climate and geographical isolation. In winter the temperature can reach 30 degrees below zero. The town of Jarp, which has about 6,000 inhabitants, is located almost 2,000 kilometers from Moscow or about 45 hours by train from the Russian capital.
The Yamalo-Nenets prison, located in northern Russia, is known for being one of the most severe penitentiary institutions in the country (REUTERS/Contributor)
In terms of infrastructure, the Yamalo-Nenets prison consists of several buildings and cell blocks, separated by categories of prisoners and security levels. The cells are small, and inmates spend most of the day there.with limited access to recreational or educational activities.
Navalny’s path to the “Polar Wolf” prison was tortuous. Since returning from Germany after surviving poisoning with the Novichok nerve agent, the opposition leader knew that the Kremlin wanted him dead. According to specialists, and Russian dissidents themselves, there is perhaps no more effective place to put an end to the Kremlin’s opponents than the extensive Russian system of penal colonies.
(With information from AFP)
