Navalny press officer fears for his health after Putin critic gets extra jail time

Record ID: 1736555

  • Title: Navalny press officer fears for his health after Putin critic gets extra jail time
  • Date: 4th August 2023
  • Summary: UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION (AUGUST 4, 2023) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPOKESPERSON FOR JAILED RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER ALEXEI NAVALNY, KIRA YARMYSH, SAYING: "This sentence is not for him, it is for Russian people who witness him and see what is happening to him. Putin is trying to frighten as many Alexei's supporters as he can. So, this enormous term has only one goal - to scare as much people as possible." (WHITE FLASH) (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPOKESPERSON FOR JAILED RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER ALEXEI NAVALNY, KIRA YARMYSH, SAYING: "He, even now, he exists in his own conditions - Putin, Kremlin and administration of his (Navalny's) colony - are trying to create his own personal conditions for him. And actually they (are) much more severe than the law states. So, I mean, what will happen after they will transfer him to another colony and we guess that they will transfer him to some other place - we don't know. I mean, they will be able to create unbearable conditions there: and he won't get any meetings with family, any phone calls, any parcels. And maybe there will be even no correspondence." (WHITE FLASH) (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPOKESPERSON FOR JAILED RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER ALEXEI NAVALNY, KIRA YARMYSH, SAYING: "His health isn't very well. The problem is that he doesn't receive any medical care and he has back pain which doesn't go away. He has problems with his eye vision because of the very bright light that there is in his cell. And they don't turn it off even during the night. For example, he is trying to - well, to claim his right to see a dentist for more than a year. And he even sued colony for not granting this right." (WHITE FLASH) (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPOKESPERSON FOR JAILED RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER ALEXEI NAVALNY, KIRA YARMYSH, SAYING: "Well, Alexei is always very optimistic. Today we were able to see a broadcast from the court - it isn't an actual court, it is a penal colony. But still we saw Alexei and he was very cheerful - he always is. He is probably the most optimistic person in Russia right now. And he supports people much more, I guess, than people support him. Because I mean, his posts (in social media) are always so funny. And again, so cheerful. So, he is in a good mood. But he is always in a good mood. He believes in what he is doing and it helps him to keep going." (WHITE FLASH) (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPOKESPERSON FOR JAILED RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER ALEXEI NAVALNY, KIRA YARMYSH, SAYING: "He has another criminal case that is going to come. About terrorism. And because of that case, he faces up to 35 years in prison. So, I mean, now he has 19 but he can get even more." (WHITE FLASH) (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPOKESPERSON FOR JAILED RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER ALEXEI NAVALNY, KIRA YARMYSH, SAYING: "Alexei is in prison until (for as long as) Putin is in power. So, our main goal is to shorten this term as much as possible. So, this is what we are doing. And yes, of course, all of us understand this. Everyone understands that all these terms actually mean nothing. Because we have to put all our efforts and trying to get rid of Putin. This means that Alexei will be free."
  • Embargoed: 18th August 2023 18:48
  • Keywords: COURT KIRA YARMYSH NAVALNY OPPOSITION PRISON SENTENCE
  • Location: UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION
  • City: UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Fundamental Rights/Civil Liberties,Europe,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001237004082023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The spokeswoman for jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny said she feared he would be facing even tougher jail conditions after his prison term was extended by a further 19 years on Friday (August 4).
    Speaking from an undisclosed location by video phone Kira Yarmysh said the extra time in a maximum security penal colony was politically motivated and intended to silence him and cow the Russian people into submission.
    Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's fiercest domestic critic, is already serving sentences totalling 11-1/2 years on fraud and other charges that he says are also bogus. His political movement has been outlawed and declared "extremist".
    A court at his IK-6 penal colony in Melekhovo, about 235 km (145 miles) east of Moscow, on Friday brought to a close his trial on six separate charges, including inciting and financing extremist activity and creating an extremist organisation.
    Yarmysh said Navalny remained positive despite his statement, on social media, released via his lawyers and supporters, that he knew he was facing a life sentence behind bars unless the current authorities fell first.
    Navalny's supporters cast him as a Russian version of South Africa's Nelson Mandela who will one day be freed from prison to govern the country.
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