Navalny Moved Back To Penal Colony In Pokrov After Treatment At Vladimir Prison Hospital

PETUSHKI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th June, 2021) Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny has been moved back to a penal colony in the town of Pokrov after receiving treatment at a prison hospital in the regional capital of Vladimir, a prison spokesperson said on Monday before a court hearing.

The Petushinski district court was due to consider two suits by Navalny � one about alleged censorship of newspapers, which he claimed to receive with cut-out articles at the Pokrov facility, and the other related to Navalny purportedly being denied books that he purchased. Navalny has withdrawn both suits.

When broadcast started from the Vladimir prison before the hearing, Navalny did not appear on the screen.

"We do not have him, he was taken to Pokrov," a colony representative said.

The broadcast was later switched to the Pokrov jail where the activist could be seen in a cell.

Last week, the Petushinski district court dismissed a third lawsuit challenging Navalny's status as prone to escape. Another claim against the Vladimir penal colony, concerning the ban on the activist's defense from carrying devices like smartphones to a secured area during the meetings with Navalny, is being handled by the Vladimir Oktyabrsky district court.

Navalny was arrested in January upon his arrival in Russia from Germany, where he received medical treatment for an alleged poisoning. A court rescinded his suspended sentence in the 2014 Yves Rocher fraud case over multiple probation breaches and sentenced him to 2.5 years in prison.

After serving less than a month of his sentence in Pokrov, Vladimir region, Navalny went on hunger strike on March 31 and was transferred to a hospital for inmates in Vladimir. Three weeks later, he ended the hunger strike.