Timeline of Alexei Navalny’s 4 years of hell in Russian jail
Alexei Navalny, the fiercest foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin who for years defiantly crusaded in opposition to state corruption and staged large anti-Kremlin protests, died in jail on Friday, based on Russia‘s jail company.
The Federal Prison Service mentioned in an announcement that Navalny, 47, felt unwell after a stroll and ‘nearly instantly misplaced consciousness’. Paramedics reportedly got here to attempt to rehabilitate him with out success.
There was no fast affirmation of Navalny’s loss of life from his group, his lawyer Leonid Solovyov telling Russian media he wouldn’t be commenting but.
Navalny, who was serving a 19-year sentence on prices of ‘extremism’, had solely lately been moved from his former jail within the Vladimir area of central Russia to a grizzly ‘particular regime’ penal colony above the Arctic Circle.
His allies, a courageous minority in Russia combating corruption, mentioned on the time they feared for his life after he ‘disappeared’ in December to journey to the distant area infamous for its lengthy and extreme winters – simply months earlier than the closely-watched Russian presidential elections subsequent month.
Alexei Navalny stands inside a glass cell throughout a court docket listening to in Moscow on February 12 2021
The entrance of the IK-3 penal colony, the place Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny had been held since December 2023
Jailed Russian opposition determine Alexei Navalny is seen on a display screen by way of a video hyperlink from his penal colony throughout court docket hearings in Moscow on June 22, 2023
Russian President Vladimir Putin smiles as we speak as he visits a forge in Chelyabinsk, Russia
August 20, 2020
Alexei Anatolievich Navalny, a former lawyer turned chief of the reformist Russia of the Future occasion, is hospitalised and put right into a coma after falling sick on an inner flight from Tomsk to Moscow.
Footage from the airplane confirmed a sudden and violent change in his situation, Navalny crying out in ache.
His pals mentioned they believed he had fallen terribly sick after stopping at a café within the airport.
It was later famous that Navalny, a fervent critic of Russian corruption, had lately revealed movies on YouTube voicing assist for pro-democracy demonstrations in allied Belarus, claiming it was solely a matter of time earlier than related mass motion reached Russia.
For years, the politician of Russian and Ukrainian descent has challenged the Russian state with damning investigations and led a progressive occasion calling for decentralisation, discount of presidential powers and an finish to censorship.
His poisoning begins the beginning of a turbulent four-year journey via the worst of Russia’s jail programs.
August 22, 2020
Navalny is promptly moved from Omsk in Russia to the Charité hospital in Berlin, Germany, the place specialists from the intergovernmental Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) affirm his poisoning by a brand new Novichok nerve agent.
Novichok chemical brokers have been developed at a state analysis institute within the Soviet Union between 1971 and 1993, claimed to be the deadliest ever made. They have been additionally used on British nationals Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess in Salisbury in 2018.
The agent was designed to be undetectable by NATO gear, probably inflicting seizures, lack of consciousness, wheezing, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, excessive adopted by low blood stress and profuse sweating.
Russia promptly denied any involvement in Navalny’s poisoning – and claimed in 2018 it had destroyed its stockpile.
Medical specialists carry Russian opposition chief Alexei Navalny on a stretcher into an ambulance on their solution to an airport earlier than his medical evacuation to Germany in Omsk, Russia
Navalny fell in poor health on a airplane following a visit to an airport cafe (pictured) the place his pals mentioned on the time they suspected he may have been poisoned
Pictures present the grim situations at Omsk hospital. Navalny was eliminated and flown to Germany even after Russian medics insisted they have been able to treating him
His spouse, in a letter to Putin, mentioned it’s critical Navalny is flown in a foreign country to be handled by specialists – as footage revealed the filthy inside of the hospital the place he was being handled
Navalny arrives at Berlin’s Tegel Airport on August 22, 2020, after he was airlifted from Russia
August 31, 2020
Navalny’s group publishes a video of his newest investigation, suggesting he was poisoned as he returned from filming an exposé on corruption in Siberia.
Ally Lyubov Sobol says on the time: ‘I am unable to reveal all the small print, however Navalny was on a piece journey. He wasn’t stress-free within the areas.’
A day prior, Yegor Zhukov, a libertarian blogger and Putin critic, is crushed by two unidentified males exterior his Moscow residence.
September 7, 2020
The Charité hospital says in a press launch that in opposition to the percentages, Navalny’s situation has improved. Navalny is faraway from his medically-induced coma and is steadily weaned off mechanical air flow.
By September 10, the hospital says he is ready to converse once more. Within per week, he’s taken off the ventilator and capable of get away from bed.
September 15, 2020
Navalny declares he’ll return to Russia.
September 22, 2020
Exactly a month after being moved to Germany, the Charité hospital in Berlin declares Navalny is match sufficient to be discharged from in-patient care.
Navalny blames Putin for the poisoning.
October 15, 2020
The European Union sanctions Russian officers over the suspected assassination of Navalny, citing the usage of forbidden chemical weapons.
‘The use of chemical weapons constitutes a critical breach of worldwide regulation,’ the European Council mentioned.
The State Scientific Research Institute for Organic Chemistry and Technology can be sanctioned, deemed chargeable for the ‘destruction of chemical weapons shares inherited from the Soviet Union’.
December 14, 2020
An investigation by Bellingcat and The Insider, in cooperation with Der Spiegel and CNN, discovered information ‘that implicates Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) within the poisoning of… Navalny’.
The plot, they are saying, occurred ‘after years of surveillance, which started in 2017 shortly after Navalny first introduced his intentions to run for president of Russia’.
The investigation concluded that via 2017, in 2019 and in 2020, FSB operatives from a ‘clandestine unit specialised in working with toxic substances’ trailled Navalny throughout Russia, shadowing him on greater than 30 overlapping flights.
They say it’s potential there have been earlier makes an attempt to poison Navalny, together with one in Kaliningrad solely a month earlier than the alleged try in Siberia.
On December 21, CNN stories a Russian agent despatched to tail Navalny had planted Novichok in his underwear.
Russian opposition chief Alexei Navalny poses along with his spouse Yulia and their kids on the German hospital the place he’s being handled after being poisoned with Novichok
Navalny shared a photograph and an replace about his restoration in September 2020
The opposition chief up to date supporters on his situation on Instagram in September 2020
Members of employees deal with an isolation capsule exterior the emergency division of the Charite hospital the place Navalny was transferred
An ambulance that was carrying Navalny leaves the Berlin Charite Hospital on August 22, 2020
More accusations have been directed at Putin (pictured in August 2020) for the poisoning of Navalny
Navalny, pictured along with his spouse Yulia in happier instances, crusaded in opposition to official corruption and staged large anti-Kremlin protests – drawing the ire of the Kremlin
January 17, 2021
Navalny overtly returns to Russia from Germany after recovering from the near-fatal poisoning.
After his flight is diverted from Sheremetyevo International Airport to Vnukovo Airport, he’s instantly detained on accusations of violating parole situations whereas in hospital in Germany, the place he was comatose.
The opposition chief had beforehand acquired a suspended sentence for the embezzlement of complete $500,000 from two firms in July 2013 and December 2014 – circumstances each thought of to be politically motivated.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) mentioned each violated his proper to a good trial, and that the case was ‘arbitrary and manifestly unreasonable’, however each rulings have been upheld.
February 2, 2021
Mass protests get away in additional than 100 cities throughout the nation as Navalny is sentenced to 2 years and eight months in a penal colony for violating the phrases of his conviction.
In Moscow alone, greater than 300 persons are arrested in an outburst of assist for the opposition chief, demonstrators seen clashing with riot police within the streets.
‘The essential factor about this course of just isn’t the way it ends for me,’ Navalny mentioned firstly of his listening to.
‘Will they convict me or not? It’s not troublesome to imprison me, for this or one other matter. The essential purpose that is taking place is to intimidate numerous folks. This is the way it works: One individual is imprisoned to frighten hundreds of thousands.’
Navalny is detained within the Pokrov jail east of Moscow for greater than a yr. In jail, he information a report claiming the authorities are torturing him with sleep deprivation and claims to be affected by lack of sensation in his backbone and legs.
On March 31, he publicizes a starvation strike to demand correct medical remedy.
In April, his attorneys declare he has herniated two discs in his backbone and misplaced sensation in his arms whereas in jail.
Navalny ends his starvation strike on April 23 on recommendation of his medical doctors.
April 16, 2021
With Navalny in jail, officers look to delegitimise his affiliated organisations. The Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) is quickly ordered to stop its actions and activists designated ‘extremists’.
‘The goal is evident: to raze Alexei Navalny’s motion to the bottom whereas he languishes in jail,’ mentioned Amnesty International on the time.
March 22, 2022
A month after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Navalny is hit with a 9 yr sentence in a ‘strict regime penal colony’ after being discovered responsible of fraud and contempt of court docket throughout a trial in February.
Prosecutors accused him of stealing $4.7m (£3.5m) of donations given to clandestine organisations, together with his anti-corruption basis.
The ruling was to interchange his earlier time period, that means he must spend one other seven years in a distant maximum-security jail, going through even harsher situations than in Moscow.
Having the final phrase, Navalny mentioned he would proceed in his plight to ‘deliver the reality to the folks of Russia’ in his closing Tweet earlier than being moved to the IK-6 jail in Melekhovo, Vladimir Oblast.
Despite critical prices in opposition to him, Navalny introduced in July the FBK will relaunch with an advisory board together with his spouse and historians Francis Fukuyama and Anne Applebaum.
Police officers detain a protester as he involves assist Russian opposition chief Alexei Navalny in entrance of the constructing of the Federal Security Service in Moscow, August 20, 2020
A protester stands in entrance of a police officer holding a poster studying ‘Putin cease poisoning folks!’ throughout a picket in assist of Russian opposition chief Alexei Navalny
A employee paints over a graffiti depicting jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny in Saint Petersburg, Russia April 28, 2021. The graffiti reads: ‘The hero of the brand new age’
Navalny inside a glass cell throughout a court docket listening to in Moscow, February 16, 2021
November 17, 2022
Navalny claims from IK-6 that he has been positioned in everlasting solitary confinment. He claims his Attorney-Client privilege has been revoked, Russia claiming he continues to commit crimes from jail.
In January, Navalny falls in poor health with flu in solitary confinement. His legal professionals are prevented from giving him primary remedy, sparking outrage and a signed letter from 400 medical doctors.
August 4, 2023
Navalny is sentenced to a different 19 years in a ‘particular regime’ colony on numerous prices together with financing extremist exercise and ‘rehabilitating Nazi ideology’. He was discovered responsible on all prices in a closed-door trial.
December 11, 2023
Navalny’s legal professionals say they haven’t had any contact with him in six days after ‘disappearing’ from IK-6.
Prison authorities didn’t initially say the place he was being transfered to – although a Russian media outlet claimed Navalny had been taken to a correctional facility exterior of the area.
Maria Pevchikh, the pinnacle of the FBK, mentioned in December: ‘We are frightened for his life. He’s within the arms of the exact same individuals who tried to kill him earlier than.
‘If they as soon as received an authorisation to homicide Navalny, have they got one other one now or is the final one nonetheless legitimate? Navalny’s life is consistently at a excessive danger.’
December 26, 2023
After weeks of silence, Navalny lastly tweets to say that he’s within the IK-3 penal colony within the city of Kharp, within the Yamalo-Nenets area about 1,900 kilometers (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow.
The distant area is infamous for lengthy and extreme winters. Kharp is about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Vorkuta, whose coal mines have been a part of the Soviet gulag prison-camp system.
He mentioned he was ‘effective’ after journeying a ‘unusual route’ to the village of Kharp on Yamal, north of the Arctic Circle, from his colony close to Moscow.
‘Don’t fear about me. I’m effective. I’m completely relieved that I’ve lastly made it,’ Navalny wrote on X. ‘I’m nonetheless in a great temper, as befits a Santa Claus,’ referring to his winter clothes and beard, grown out after almost three weeks in transit.
Navalny’s lawyer managed to see him earlier within the week, confirming his arrival and situation.
The IK-3 penal colony within the settlement of Kharp within the Yamal-Nenets Region, December 29
Navalny took to Twitter to verify he was secure and had provisions within the dire jail
The Putin critic mentioned he’d spoken to his lawyer and was ‘completely relieved’ to have arrived safely
Navalny’s closing message: The Kremlin critic posted Valentine’s message to his spouse, Yulia, on Wednesday (pictured). ‘Baby, every little thing is like in a tune with you: between us there are cities, the take-off lights of airfields, blue snowstorms and 1000’s of kilometers,’ it learn. ‘But I really feel that you’re close to each second, and I like you an increasing number of’
January 10, 2024
Navalny is seen for the primary time since being moved to the Arctic jail, pictured smiling and laughing whereas in court docket by way of video-link on Wednesday.
Russian information shops launched pictures of Navalny, in black jail garb and with a buzz reduce, on a dwell TV feed from IK-3.
In video footage and media stories from the listening to, Navalny, 47, joked about how a lot he had missed officers at his previous jail and the Kovrov court docket officers, and in regards to the harsh jail in Russia’s far north.
‘Conditions right here (on the penal colony in Kharp) – and that is a dig at you, esteemed defendants – are higher than at IK-6 in Vladimir,’ Mr Navalny deadpanned, utilizing the penal colony’s acronym.
‘There is one drawback, although, and I do not know which court docket to file a swimsuit about it, the climate is dangerous right here,’ he added with a chuckle.
February 16, 2024
Navalny is reported to have collapsed and died within the IK-3 jail The Federal Prison Service mentioned in an announcement as we speak that Navalny felt unwell after a stroll and misplaced consciousness. An ambulance arrived to attempt to save him, to no avail.
‘On February 16, 2024, in correctional colony No. 3, convict Navalny A.A. felt unwell after a stroll, nearly instantly shedding consciousness,’ mentioned an announcement from jail officers. ‘Emergency medical doctors confirmed the loss of life of the convict,’ it added.
Russian information company Interfax reported that it was advised the ambulance group reached the colony the place Navalny was serving his sentence in seven minutes.
It took one other two minutes to succeed in the affected person, it claimed.
Reports mentioned his time of loss of life was recorded as 2.17pm native time (7.17am GMT).
Christo Grozev, the lead Russia investigator with Bellingcat, famous that the assertion saying Navalny’s loss of life was posted simply two minutes later – at 2.19pm.
