Navalny's Lawyers Looking For Oppositionist For 12 Days Now

• 19.12.2023, 5:33

Concern over his disappearance was expressed in the UN.

UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Russia Mariana Katsarova said that the lack of information about the whereabouts of Russian opposition activist Aleksey Navalny is tantamount to his "enforced disappearance." The office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights informed about it on December 18.

"I am very concerned that the Russian authorities have not been reporting on Aleksey Navalny's whereabouts and state of health for such a long time, which effectively amounts to his enforced disappearance. [...] Navalny's lawyers, who have not been allowed to meet with him since December 6, have been told by the court that their client is no longer being held in Vladimir Region, without providing any explanations," Katsarova said.

The UN noted that Navalny's relatives and lawyers "sent letters to all penal colonies, trying to establish his whereabouts."

In response, they were initially told that he might be in one of the Omsk colonies, but this information was later denied, the release says.

According to Katsarova, Navalny was being prepared for transfer to a higher security colony after he was sentenced to an additional 19 years in prison "on the basis of groundless accusations of 'extremism'" on August 4. The expert warned that "prisoners are most vulnerable during the transportation, which carries a high risk of serious human rights violations".

On December 18, Maria Pevchikh, head of Navalny's "Anti-Corruption Foundation" (FBK) organisation, published a letter from the UN on the X social network.

"Today they requested Russian representatives to provide immediate information on Navalny's whereabouts and state of health, as well as to ensure access of lawyers to him," she wrote.