The lawyer of the Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, confirms that his client was moved from a prison in Moscow to one of the most famous prison camps in Russia to serve his sentence. Navalny, who survived a poisoning attempt, is serving a two-year, six-month sentence for defying probation while hospitalized for poisoning. The facility, located about 60 miles from Moscow, is known as the “red zone” prison, defined by the hard manual labor that prisoners have to perform. Activist Konstantin Kotov was released from prison after 18 months and told him New York Times he was constantly intimidated by guards and punished for not greeting officers. He was also penalized in isolation for borrowing gloves from another detainee after the pair sent by his relatives were confiscated. “Alexey will have a very difficult time,” Kotov said. “The administration keeps track of every move.” The head of the Russian Penitentiary Service told the state-run Tass news service that there was “no threat” to Navalny’s “health or life” in prison.
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