Navalny is moved from remand prison and likely transferred to a penitentiary

The Russian authorities have moved Alexey Navalny from the remand prison in the capital where he’s been jailed since returning to Moscow last month. The opposition politician’s lawyer told the news agency Interfax that he arrived at Matrosskaya Tishina for a meeting with Navalny on Thursday, only to be told that his client is no longer being held there. “He’s probably been transferred to a penitentiary, but it’s also possible they took him somewhere else,” said Vadim Kobzev.

Navalny’s 2.5-year prison sentence entered force on February 20, after an appellate court upheld his conviction for supposedly violating parole requirements in a previous felony sentence that international groups have condemned as an unfair, politicized trial.