Sunday, April 18, 2021

ORTHODOX TSAR PUTIN WILL BE OUTRAGED
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny sues prison for withholding Koran
SO WILL THE RUSSIAN WHITE NATIONALISTS

4/14/2021

Alexei Navalny says he hasn't been given access to any of the books he brought or ordered over the past month, because they all need to be "inspected for extremism"
(AP: Pavel Golovkin)

Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is suing a prison for withholding the Koran, which he intended to study while serving time in detainment outside Moscow.

Key points:

"Deeply studying" the Koran was one of several “self-improvement” goals Alexei Navalny set for himself while in pris
on

Mr Navalny has been on a hunger strike for two weeks

He developed back and leg pains and suffered from a cough and fever while in prison

Mr Navalny has been on a hunger strike for two weeks, protesting prison officials'
refusal to let his physician examine him behind bars after he developed severe back and leg pain.

But he said on Tuesday (local time) in an Instagram post that his first lawsuit against prison officials had to do with the Muslim holy book.



"The thing is, they're not giving me my Koran. And it pisses me off," Mr Navalny said.

He said "deeply studying" the Koran was one of several "self-improvement" goals he set for himself while in prison.

The politician said he hasn't been given access to any of the books he brought or ordered over the past month, because they all need to be "inspected for extremism", which officials say takes three months.




Who is Alexei Navalny? And why is he creating so much attention?Read more


"So I wrote one more petition to the (prison) chief and filed a lawsuit," Mr Navalny said.


"Books are our everything, and if I have to sue for my right to read, then I'll be suing."

The 44-year-old is Russian President Vladimir Putin's fiercest domestic opponent.

He was arrested in January upon returning to Moscow from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from a nerve-agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.

Russian authorities have rejected the accusation.


















In February, a court ordered Mr Navalny to serve two-and-a-half years in prison for violating the terms of his probation, including when he was convalescing in Germany, from a 2014 embezzlement conviction.

Mr Navalny has rejected the conviction as fabricated, and the European Сourt of Human Rights found it "arbitrary and manifestly unreasonable".

last month, authorities transferred Mr Navalny from a Moscow jail to the IK-2 penal colony in the Vladimir region, 85 kilometres east of the Russian capital.

The facility in the town of Pokrov is noted for its especially strict inmate routines, which include standing at attention for hours.

Within weeks of being imprisoned, Mr Navalny said he developed severe back and leg pains and was effectively deprived of sleep because a guard checks on him hourly at night.

Russia's state penitentiary service claims the politician is receiving all the medical help he needs.

Last week, Mr Navalny was transferred to the prison's medical ward with a cough and a fever.

WATCH
Duration: 2 minutes 2 seconds
The Vladimir Putin critic was detained as he returned to Russia for the first time since he was poisoned with a nerve agent.

In an Instagram post, he said three of the 15 people he is housed with have tuberculosis, a contagious disease that spreads through the air.

On Monday, Mr Navalny's allies said on Twitter that he was transferred back into general housing from the medical unit.

The politician has lost eight kilograms since starting the hunger strike and 15 kilograms in all since arriving at the colony, according to his team.

Prison officials are "seeing the seriousness of the hunger strike" and are threatening to force-feed him, Mr Navalny's team said in a tweet.

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