The French government is said to be concerned about the lack of news about jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. It has described the silence as "very worrying", after allies said he had been moved from his prison near Moscow.
"France considers Russia responsible for the health of its detainees, in particular political prisoners," said French foreign ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine, adding that "the lack of news for the past several days is very worrying."
Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been removed from a prison near Moscow and taken to an undisclosed location, his spokeswoman said Friday, citing a court representative.
Supporters of Navalny, who was jailed in 2021 after surviving an assassination attempt by poison, have sounded the alarm since early this month, when the Kremlin critic was last seen.
Kira Yarmysh said she was told that Navalny, serving a 19-year sentence, was removed from the Vladimir region near Moscow on 11 December, signalling a potential prison transfer.
"It is not known where exactly" he was taken, Yarmysh added.
"I want to remind you that lawyers have not seen Alexei since 6 December. Why they were not allowed to meet with him, if Alexei was still in IK-6, we do not know," she said, referring to the penal colony where he was last seen.
Interference
His team said the politician had missed several court hearings.
The Kremlin this week criticised what it called "interference" by the United States in the case after Washington said it was "deeply concerned" for Navalny.
"We are talking about a prisoner who was found guilty by the law and is serving the prison sentence he received. Any interference, including from the US, is unacceptable," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Navalny is serving the long jail term on extremism charges, and a court this summer ruled that he be moved to a more secure, harsh prison.
Allies have offered reward for any information about Navalny, who Amnesty International said "may have been subjected to an enforced disappearance".
The European Union called for Navalny's "immediate and unconditional release from politically motivated incarceration" on Tuesday.
"Russia's political leadership is responsible for his safety and health in prison for which they will be held to account," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Navalny's allies linked his disappearance and possible transfer to a harsher prison with President Vladimir Putin's announcement that he plans to extend his long rule by running for a fifth presidential term in March.
"It's impossible to imagine that no one knows where he is," said Ivan Zhdanov, an exiled Navalny ally. "We promise a reward for reliable and complete information."
Eye on corruption
Navalny galvanised huge nationwide protests in Russia before he was jailed in 2021 on fraud charges after returning from Germany.
He had been recovering from a poisoning attack with Novichok, a Soviet-designed nerve agent, that he and independent investigators say was carried out by Russian agents.
In August, his initial sentence of nine years was more than doubled to 19 years, as Moscow prosecutors accused him of creating an organisation that undermined public security.
Navalny had established a network of political offices across the country and a corruption watchdog that brought credible graft allegations against political elites.
The opposition figure, who has complained of a series of health problems and has lost weight in prison, can only communicate with the outside world through his lawyers.
(with AFP)
