Vyshinsky Says Navalny's Prison Conditions 'Ascetic' But Satisfactory

Kirill Vyshinsky, a member of Russia's Human Rights Council and an executive director of the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency, visited the jail where Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny is held, and on Friday compared the conditions of his detention with "ascetic" army barracks

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd April, 2021) Kirill Vyshinsky, a member of Russia's Human Rights Council and an executive director of the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency, visited the jail where Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny is held, and on Friday compared the conditions of his detention with "ascetic" army barracks.

On Thursday, the journalist visited three prison facilities in the Vladimir Region in central Russia, including the prison in the city of Pokrov where Navalny is held. According to him, the latter colony, while designed for some 600 people, currently hosts only around 300 people.

"To make it clear, the arrangement of the premises in the prison reminded me very much of my service in the army, the barracks. This is a common room with bunk beds. And they are definitely army, and not, for example, those bunks on which I was in Ukraine. Ordinary army beds, bedside tables, there is a washbasin, there is a room for drying outerwear and changing shoes, there is a kitchen," Vyshinsky said.

The room where Navalny is located is on the second floor, he specified.

"There aren't even bars on the windows. I think the barred windows were only on the ground floors. Some windows are double-glazed, some have old wooden frames ... There is a ceramic toilet, which, for example, neither Kherson nor Odessa jails [in Ukraine] had. When talking about living conditions in which he [Navalny] is kept, yes, they are very spartan, indeed, ascetic conditions. But to say that they were created as if for torture purposes - definitely not," Vyshinsky added.

When commenting on Navalny's behavior during his visit, the journalist noted that the opposition figure refused to talk with him and ignored commands from the prison authorities.

"I tried to find out from him what claims and complaints he had, but, again, I received a rude answer that he did not know me, and when I asked him to introduce himself, he said that he was not interested in who I was," Vyshinsky explained.

He added that Navalny agreed to communicate only with Russian Civic Chamber member Maria Butina, who accompanied the journalist in his visit to the colony.

"Alexey Anatolyevich spoke only to her. The only one with whom he entered into a conversation, and it was a rather rude polemic," Vyshinsky said.

He also gathered from conversations with other inmates that Navalny's behavior created tension in the unit where he is held.

"He, frankly, creates a certain tension there by his behavior among the people who are there. The others are much more disciplined," Vyshinsky said.

On Wednesday, Navalny, who is serving a prison sentence on financial misconduct charges, declared a hunger strike, demanding that the prison administration provide him access to proper medical treatment. The opposition figure has complained about pain in his back and legs. However, according to the Penitentiary Service, his state of health satisfactory and stable, and he is not deprived of necessary medical service.