New Documents Released on Navalny's Final Days in Russian Prison

Alexei Navalny, the most prominent political opponent of Vladimir Putin, died last winter in a high-security prison in northern Russia at the age of 47. Russian officials claim his death was natural. According to Vladimir Putin, "It was an event that happened." However, Navalny's relatives have questioned this claim. Yulia Navalnaya explicitly held the Russian president responsible for her husband's death. A group of investigative journalists is working to clarify all the details of Alexei Navalny's life and death in prison, and numerous documents have been published in this regard. According to a new report from the publication 'Meduza,' citing correspondence from prison staff, "Alexei Navalny was not meant to survive." In the notes of this Russian politician from prison, published under the title 'Patriot' in the U.S., which will be distributed on Tuesday, October 22, across 36 countries in 26 languages, he wrote: "I must accept and prepare myself to die in prison." 'Meduza' reported that about two months ago, through an anonymous source, it obtained emails from Ilya Kruglyshev, an employee of the 'Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia' in the city of Melikhovo. This 'institute' is the same prison located 250 kilometers from Moscow where Alexei Navalny was held for more than a year before being sent to the Arctic. 'Meduza,' declared an 'undesirable organization and a threat to national security' by the Russian government, is considered one of the most important media outlets outside of Russia. The journalists of this publication believe that the hundreds of emails they have received are entirely credible and mainly include documents exchanged between the prison and the court in response to complaints and lawsuits from Navalny's lawyers, but also include medical certificates and reports from prison visitors. According to this report, some of this correspondence contains evidence of beatings, threats, humiliation, and sexual violence against prisoners, confirming the notorious reputation of this prison, known as a 'torture house.' The correspondence indicates that Alexei Navalny spent over 300 days in solitary confinement during his two years of imprisonment, was repeatedly beaten by guards, and was often denied medical care. Additionally, all of his correspondence and conversations (including with lawyers) were monitored, and he was frequently barred from receiving letters, phone conversations, and walking in the prison yard. In response to most of Navalny's lawyers' complaints, prison representatives merely claimed that the purpose of all their actions was "to prevent the planning of crimes that may threaten national security." In court letters responding to Navalny's legal team's complaints, which were also sent to the prison, it was stated that all actions of prison staff were "justifiable and legal." The leaked documents suggest that Ilya Kruglyshev, identified as the 'link between the prison and the court in Navalny's matters,' was often personally responsible for the 'intolerable conditions' faced by this Kremlin opponent. Last spring, after Alexei Navalny's death in prison, Kruglyshev was placed on the European Union's sanctions list. Alexei Navalny was poisoned in the summer of 2020. Laboratories in Germany, France, and Sweden independently identified the nerve agent 'Novichok' in Navalny's body. After treatment in Germany, he returned to Russia and was immediately arrested. A year later, Alexei Navalny first told his wife Yulia and then his lawyers that he suspected he was being 'slowly poisoned' in prison. The documents obtained by 'Meduza' indicate that Alexei Navalny repeatedly complained of ailments that doctors believe may be evidence of his gradual poisoning. About a month ago, the publication 'Insider,' which four years ago, along with the investigative group 'Bellingcat,' identified the Russian security agents responsible for Navalny's poisoning with the nerve agent, announced based on 'hundreds of official documents' that all references to 'possible poisoning' were removed from the final report of the Russian government regarding Navalny's death. According to journalists, among the documents they received are two official letters stating that conducting a criminal investigation into Navalny's death 'is not necessary,' but one of them addresses Navalny's physical condition in the final moments of his life, while the second omits these explanations. According to this report, Navalny 'complained of severe abdominal pain in the snow-covered prison yard, then suffered severe vomiting, his body went into painful contractions, and he eventually lost consciousness.' Alexander Palopan, the doctor who treated Navalny after his poisoning with the nerve agent four years ago, told 'Insider': 'These symptoms can only have one reason: poisoning.' Meanwhile, the 'Dosye' research center published a complete list of '75 items that security agents took from the prison,' which included not only Navalny's clothes, bedding, and books but also 'hair and nails and toilet paper from his cell and everything in the prison yard, including garbage, snow samples, and vomit samples.' According to this report, 'no object or item remains in the prison that Navalny has touched.' At the same time, this report adds that 'only 31 of the seized items have reached forensic doctors' and speculates that 'the aim of the security agents was to leave no trace of Navalny's possible poisoning.' The official report from the Russian Investigative Committee cites the cause of Alexei Navalny's death as 'heart rhythm disorder due to high blood pressure and other diseases.' Last summer, 188 Russian doctors issued an open letter to the Russian Investigative Committee requesting the full documents related to Navalny's death in prison to be published and those responsible to be identified and punished. In recent days, several of these doctors have been arrested on suspicion of extremism and later released. At least three lawyers from Navalny's team have been imprisoned on charges of 'collaborating with the extremist organization Navalny Foundation.' Alexei Navalny wrote his memoirs from the time of his arrest until the last day of his life in prison, which were published in a book titled 'Patriot.' He described one of the reasons for publishing these memoirs as follows: 'If they kill me, this book will keep my memory alive.'