Revelations in the memoirs of Alexei Navalny: “I will spend the rest of my life in prison and die here”

Russian dissident Alexey Navalnywho was the main political rival of the President Vladimir Putin Before his death in February, I thought I would die in prisonaccording to them posthumous memoir Which will be published on 22nd October.

the new Yorker Published excerpts from the book, including Navalny’s prison diary and earlier articles. ,I will spend the rest of my life in jail and die here“He wrote on March 22, 2022.”There will be no one to say goodbye… all anniversaries will be celebrated without me. I will never see my grandchildren“, he continued.

Navalny was serving a 19-year prison sentence on charges of “…extremism“In the Arctic penal colony. He died on 16 February at the age of 47. widely condemnedAnd Many people blamed Putin,

Navalny was arrested upon returning to Russia in January 2021 after battling a serious health emergency Poison In 2020.

,The only thing we have to fear is that we will hand over our motherland to plunder by gangs of liars, thieves and hypocrites.he wrote on January 17, 2022.

Revealed from the diary The harsh punishment that the prison regime and his hunger strike inflicted on his bodyAccording to other quotes published in London Times,

“Today I feel crushed. We went to the bathroom. I could barely stand under the hot shower. My legs responded. It’s late at night and I have no energy at all. I just want to lie down and for the first time, I feel emotionally and morally depressed“, he wrote in one entry.

capture excerpts loneliness of prisonbut also a touch of humorFor example, on July 1, 2022, Navalny described his typical day: waking up at 6:00 am, having breakfast at 6:20 am, and starting work at 6:40 am.

,At work, you sit for seven hours at a sewing machine on a stool below knee height“, wrote. “After work, You sit for a few hours on a wooden bench under Putin’s photoIt is called ‘disciplinary action,

The book, titled “Patriot”, will be published by the American publishing house Knopf, which is also planning a Russian edition. ,It is impossible to read Navalny’s prison diary without being outraged by the tragedy of his suffering and death.“wrote the editor of the new YorkerDavid Remnick.

In the final excerpt, published in the magazine on January 17, 2024, Navalny answered the question posed to him by his fellow prisoners and prison guards: Why did he return to Russia?

,I don’t want to abandon or betray my country. If your convictions mean anything, you must be willing to defend them and make sacrifices if necessary.“, Said.

Speculating on the consequences of any attempt on his assassination, Navalny said of his memoirs: “they will be my memorial,

,If they kill me, my family will get advance payment and royalties, I hope“, wrote.

,Let’s face it, if a suspected attempted murder with a chemical weapon, followed by a tragic death in prison can’t sell a book, it’s hard to imagine what will.He joked. ,What more could a marketing department ask for?,

Russia currently has a network of approximately 700 penal colonies, housing more than 460,000 prisoners across the country. Activists, NGOs and former prisoners agree IK-3 penitentiary in which he was kept Opposition leader Alexey Navalny There is no doubt that this is one of the most difficult.

A Russian lawyer said earlier this year that the conditions he faces in that prison are often similar a death sentence

According to him, the “Polar Wolf” colony, also known as the Arctic Prison, is “essentially legalized torture” designed to break prisoners physically and mentally.

“This is a disgusting colony”he told the Russian news site Meduza.

Yamalo-Nenets, where the prison is located, is an autonomous region in the Ural Federal District, characterized by Due to its extremely cold climate and geographical isolation. In winter the temperature can reach 30 degrees below zero. The town of Jarp, which has a population of about 6,000, is located about 2,000 kilometers from Moscow, or about 45 hours by train from the Russian capital.

In terms of infrastructure, the Yamalo-Nenets prison consists of several buildings and cell blocks, separated by categories of prisoners and security levels. The cells are small, and prisoners spend most of the day there.With limited access to recreational or educational activities.

Navalny’s path to the “Polar Wolf” prison was circuitous. Since returning from Germany after surviving Novichok nerve agent poisoning, the opposition leader knew the Kremlin wanted him dead. According to experts and Russian dissidents themselves, there is no place more effective than the extensive Russian system of penal colonies for eliminating the Kremlin’s opponents.

(With information from AFP)