That’s what the prisoner says to the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta.
According to the anonymous prisoner, the conditions for the inmates at the penal colony must have been significantly tightened already the evening before – without any reason being given. The prisoner believes the restrictions were made because something happened to Alexei Navalny.
– I think Navalny died long before the announced time. Most likely the night before. Why else was it necessary to lock us in and have searches at dawn? asks the prisoner.
DEATH: This will be the last video of Alexei Navalny. Video: Sota Vision Show more
According to the inmate, cars also drove into the area of the prison colony that same evening. So Thursday 15 February.
The prisoners are said to have been told that Navalny had died at approximately 10:00 in the morning on Friday 16 February in the penal colony located in the far north of Russia.
Ivan Zhdanov, one of the leaders of Navalny’s anti-corruption organization, has described the camp as one of the most remote penal colonies in Russia.
Called “Arctic Hell”
On Friday afternoon Norwegian time, Russian prison authorities announced that the opposition politician had died. A few minutes later, the state-run Russian news agency reported the same thing.
SERVED HERE: Since December, Alexei Navalny has served time here, on the desolate tundra in the Yamal-Nenets region of Russia. Photo: Reuters Show more
Currently, it is not known what the alleged cause of death of Navalny should be. Earlier on Saturday, Navalny’s supporters criticized the Russian authorities for withholding information about the death. The body of the opposition politician was not to be found at the morgue they visited on Saturday.
On Friday, Navalny’s team said he was “probably killed”. Ivan Zhdadov and Kira Jarmysh speak out on Friday in a live broadcast.
– It is not an ordinary death. It is a deliberate political murder, Zjdanov said.
Navalny’s mother has been informed that her son died of “Sudden Death Syndrome”.
However, Novaja Gazeta’s source believes that the prison authorities at IK-3 were surprised by the death.
– Both the “owner” of the prison colony and the warden walked around with completely blank expressions from the morning, the inmate points out. The prisoner also believes that much of the uproar after the death was due to the prison authorities wanting to come up with a common explanation for the events before the authorities from the Kremlin arrived at the penal colony.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for a full investigation into the death of the Russian opposition politician.