Since entering the IK-2 penal colony March 2, 44-year-old Russian dissident Alexi Navalny has complained constantly, calling the former gulag a “happy concentration” camp, though denying that he experienced any violence. Navalny’s visited by his attorneys daily, making you wonder about his complaints about poor treatment, insisting he’s not getting appropriate care for his ailing back. Complaining about down-the-the-leg pain, Navalny asked for Diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory injection recommended by his doctors, still not allowed to visit him in the penal colony 100 kilometers [62 miles] east of Moscow. U.S. and global media have been covering Navalny’s imprisonment nonstop, hoping to get the Kremlin to release him on humanitarian grounds. Navalny told his attorney that prison guards wake him up hourly in kind of sleep deprivation torture.
Keeping pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin, the press hopes to hound the Russian government to release Navalny. Launching a hunger strike March 31 also puts pressure on Russian authorities to get Navalny the urgent medical care needed to treat his ailing back. Navalny’s weight dropped since entering IK-2 penal colony eight kilograms, or about 17 pounds, leaving him at 85 kg [187 lbs], compared with 93 kg [203 lbs.] when he entered IK-2 March 2. Navalny’s lawyers attribute his weight loss to his nightly sleep-deprivation, waking him hourly since entering the facility. “He himself links this weight loss primarily to the fact that he is not allowed to sleep and is woken up eight times a night,” his attorneys told his staff who still post to his Instagram account. Keeping his condition on social media fully informs the global press about his medical condition .
IK-2 prison officials deny that Navalny has received worse treatment than any other inmate. “Correction facility officers strictly respect the rights of all inmates to eight hours uninterrupted sleep.” Checking up on Navalny hourly does not mean that he’s interrupted out of a sound sleep. Navalny has reported daily to his attorney’s that he’s been kept from a normal about of sleep, instead woken hourly. It’s hard to know whether the constant barrage of complaints is Navalny’s strategy to heap pressure on Putin to let him out of prison. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Navalny is treated no better or worse than any others prisoner. Western press has warned about Navlny’s unequal treatment, hoping to get him in-house doctors or actually pressure the Kremlin for his early release. U.S. and global press often refer to Navalny as Russia’s biggest anti-corruption critic.
Western press place great hope in Navalny hoping he can break the Russian criminal justice system, currently heaping it with criticism. Short of releasing Navalny from prison, officials insist he gets all appropriate medial care and deny he receives any special treatment. Navalny demands his own doctor but it’s not part of prison protocol unless there’s some special reason for the request. Maria Butina, a once famous Russian spy who spent time in a U.S. prison, whose a TV talk show host, showed up with her TV crew to prove Navalny was making things up about his poor medical care by prison officials. “She shouted that this was the best and most comfortable prison. Navalny told her off in front of prisoners for 15 minutes, calling her a parasite and servant of the thieves in power,” reported the media. Navalny’s been a thorn in Putin’s side accusing him of corruption for 10 years.
What the Western press or leaders don’t get is that Navalny’s regarded as a Trotskyite, Bolshevik-like revolutionary looking to topple Putin 20-year reign of power. Whether Putin ordered Navalny’s poisoning or not, he’s considered a hero by the Western press and governments, putting faith in Navalny to carry out a democratic revolution in Russia. Navalny’s closest counterpart in recent years was 57-year-old former oil tycoon-oligarch Mikhail Khordorcovsky who found out what happened in 2003 when you cross Putin. Khordorkovsky, once Russia’s richest man, was arrested, convicted and sentenced to solitary confinement in Siberia. When Putin let him out in 2015, he was exiled from Russia, living in Switzerland and the U.K. If Putin had his way with Navalny, he’d let him out as long as he left Russia for good, something Navalny refuses to do.
Harassing Putin and the Kremlin with 24/7 press coverage of Navalny, the press hopes Putin and the Kremlin will let him out of jail. But judging by Putin’s past treatment of dissidents, it’s doubtful that he and the Kremlin will give in and release Navalny from prison. If the press coverage continues to harass the Kremlin, it’s possible that Navalny will suffers some kind of mishap while at the IK-2 penal colony. Letting Navalny’s attorneys visit him daily guarantees that his Facebook and Instagram counts will get updated to present the worst possible scenario to his loyal followers. Navalny’s chief of staff Leonid Volkov continues to update Navalny’s social media accounts, singing up thousands for spring street demonstrations to designed to pressure Putin and Kremlin to release Navalny from prison. So far, all of Volkov’s efforts have backfired, making Navalny’s life worse.
