Following warnings from allies of Alexei Navalny, the prominent figure of the Russian opposition, that they have received no news of his whereabouts recently, the White House expressed concern about Navalny’s situation on Tuesday, December 11.
John Kirby, the spokesperson for the US National Security Council, said, “Reports that he has been [transferred to an unknown location] for a week and his family and lawyers are unaware of his whereabouts, have deeply concerned us.”
Kirby told reporters traveling with President Joe Biden on Air Force One to Philadelphia, “He must be released immediately and should never be imprisoned at all.”
Kirby added, “We are in contact with the US Embassy in Moscow to gather more information about [his situation].”
Navalny’s close allies had previously stated that they have been unaware of his whereabouts in the past six days and raised the possibility that he may have been transferred from the prison where he served his 19-year sentence for participating in extremist activities to another location.
A court had previously issued an order to transfer him to a special prison this summer and now, Kira Yarmish, Navalny’s spokesperson in social media, has expressed concern about his well-being, saying that there is no news about Navalny’s situation and his lawyers have not been able to find him in those two prisons.
Yarmish said that officials have not provided information about the possible transfer location to his lawyers.
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Just a few days before Alexei Navalny’s disappearance, Vladimir Putin announced that he would run for the Russian presidency for the fifth time in the March 2024 elections. If he wins, he may remain in power in Russia until 2030.
Navalny’s allies, the leader of the current Russian opposition, believe that he has been moved from the “Vladimir” area and may have been transferred to any prison in Russia, and this transfer period may take several weeks.
According to the French news agency, in the Russian detention and prison system, the transfer of prisoners to remote detention centers and prisons may take weeks.
Navalny has been transferred to solitary confinement several times in the past year and in recent months, his contacts outside the prison have been severely restricted.
Last August, he was sentenced to 19 years in prison for creating an extremist organization, funding extremist activities, and other similar charges. He had previously been sentenced to 11 years in prison on charges including fraud and was serving his sentence in a heavily secured prison. He denied the charges and condemned Russia’s attack on Ukraine from inside the prison.
Supporters of Navalny claim that his arrest and imprisonment are politically motivated actions to silence his criticism of Vladimir Putin. Navalny is considered one of the most serious threats to Putin’s legitimacy in his over two decades in power in Russia. He organized anti-government street protests and exposed Kremlin corruption through his blog and social media accounts.