Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny’s fellow inmates banned from looking at him

Prisoners at Penal Colony No. 6 in Russia’s Vladimir region, where jailed opposition politician Alexey Navalny is serving a nine-year sentence, have reportedly been banned from looking at Navalny. Associates of Navalny described the new policy on their YouTube channel, Popular Politics, after they learned about it from relatives of prisoners in the facility.

According to the inmates' relatives, whenever Navalny is being led through the prison, a buzzer sounds three times, signaling for the other prisoner to turn away. Human rights advocate and Russia Behind Bars founder Olga Romanova confirmed the reports to Popular Politics.

The inmates’ relatives also said that some of the inmates have been sent to fight in the war against Ukraine.

Between the beginning of August and early September, Alexey Navalny was put in solitary confinement four times. The dissident himself said he believes the isolation was a retaliation against him for his political work. Navalny recently created a labor union for prisoners and called on Russians to vote against pro-war candidates in this month’s regional and municipal elections.