Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said on Monday that prison officials ordered him to serve at least three days in solitary confinement, citing a minor infraction, in retaliation for his activism behind bars, The Associated Press reported.
A post about the punishment appeared in Navalny's social media accounts on Monday. It wasn't immediately clear how the politician got the information out.
Navalny, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's most prominent critics, was arrested in January of 2021 for alleged parole violations after returning from Germany, where he had been recovering from being poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent.
He was later sentenced by a Russian court to a three-and-a-half-year sentence, though his lawyer said he would serve only two years and eight months in jail because of time he has already spent under house arrest.
In March of 2021, Navalny launched a hunger strike to protest the authorities’ failure to provide proper treatment for his back and leg pains. He subsequently ended the hunger strike on the advice of his doctors.
In June of that year, a Moscow court outlawed the organizations founded by Navalny by labeling them extremist.
During his time behind bars, his social media accounts have been regularly updated with posts about life in prison, according to AP. Just last week, Navalny announced setting up a labor union for convicts, of which he said he was the only member at the time. Navalny said the union has successfully argued for replacing backless stools with chairs in the prison's sewing shop where he works.
According to the post published on Monday, the union activity was the real reason prison officials sent him to solitary confinement.
“The Kremlin wants to see its GULAG consisting of voiceless slaves. And here I am, instead of begging for pardon, uniting some people and demanding that some laws be observed,” it said.