The Kremlin says it does not know the whereabouts of the opponent Navalny, who has been missing for a week

2023-12-12 12:22:10

The Kremlin said this Tuesday that it did not know the whereabouts of the Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, who has not contacted his lawyers for a week and who, according to his collaborators in exile, would have been transferred to a new prison.

“No, we have neither the intention nor the possibility of knowing the fate of the prisoners and the details of their stay in the corresponding penitentiary institutions,” said Dmitri Peskov, presidential spokesman, in his daily telematic press conference.

At the same time, he described as “inadmissible” the interference of the United States in the situation of Navalni, who is serving almost 30 years in prison.

“Here we are talking about a prisoner who was found guilty under the law and is serving the sentence handed down to him. We consider any interference, from anyone, including the United States, inadmissible and impossible,” he said.

The spokesman for the US State Department, Matthew Miller, announced that he will express his concern about Navalni’s condition to Moscow.

The collaborators, who have been denouncing the impossibility of contacting the politician for a week, raised the alarm on Monday that he was no longer in prison number 6 in the Vladimir region, where he had been serving his sentence since June 2022. .

At the moment, it is unknown whether the opposition leader will be transferred to a prison in the European part of Russia or to another penitentiary in Siberia.

His allies accuse the Kremlin of wanting to silence him just after President Vladimir Putin announced his intention to run for re-election.

On December 7, Navalny asked from prison to vote against the head of the Kremlin in the March 17, 2024 elections.

“On that day we call on everyone to go to the polls and vote against Vladimir Putin. This can be done by putting a cross in the box of any other candidate,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.

Navalny also announced the launch of a website (neputin.org) that called on Russians to support any candidate for the presidency, except the current head of the Kremlin. One day after its launch the site was blocked.