Leonid Volkov warns Russian opposition leader’s health is at risk from indefinite solitary confinement
Alexei Navalny seen on a video link provided by the Russian federal penitentiary service in a courtroom in Moscow last month.Alexei Navalny seen on a video link provided by the Russian federal penitentiary service in a courtroom in Moscow last month.Last modified on Sun 27 Nov 2022 15.57 GMTas a future bargaining chip, his chief aide said, warning that the opposition leader’s health was at risk after being forced into indefinite solitary confinement.
The politician’s aide said it was felt that Navalny had previously enjoyed some degree of protection because he could regularly get his message out from inside prison and so keep up his profile inside and outside Russia. Navalny’s supporters had believed Putin would not want the opposition leader to die violently in jail, because the Russian president would be blamed. “The world was watching, he was kind of protected,” the aide said.in February had changed their thinking. “Our assessment of how crazy Putin actually is was wrong,” Volkov warned, because it was clear the Russian leader “doesn’t care about sanctions, about international reaction”.
Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition leader, was first jailed in February 2021 after being detained a month earlier on his return from Germany, where he had been recovering after an attempt on his life. The aide said it was right that Navalny had chosen to return from Germany. “He didn’t want to become yet another like ex-politician in exile,” Volkov said, arguing that “you have to be in the country” to be an active politician in Russia. “We always knew he would return. It was never subject for discussion.”
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