Navalny moved from Moscow detention center

Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been moved from a Moscow detention center to an unknown location, with one of the Putin critic’s lawyers suggesting he could have been taken to a prison camp. 

Reuters reported on Thursday that attorney Vadim Kobzev said Navalny’s movement was illegal, as his family was not notified of his location. 

Eva Merkacheva, a member of Moscow’s public monitoring committee for human rights, said the opposition leader had been moved to a standard Russian penal colony and that his exact location will be released upon arrival, according to Reuters, which cited the state-run RIA news agency. 

Navalny earlier this month received a 32-month prison sentence after prosecutors argued he violated the conditions of his 2014 parole by not checking in while recovering from his August poisoning. 

The U.S. and other countries have blamed Russia’s Federal Security Service for Navalny’s poisoning, though the Kremlin has repeatedly denied involvement in the incident. 

The European Court of Human Rights last week issued a ruling demanding that Navalny be released, citing the “nature and extent of risk to the applicant’s life” through alleged unsafe prison conditions. 

The ruling, which marked the first time Europe’s top human rights judicial body ordered Russia to release a convicted prisoner, prompted backlash from the Moscow, with Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko calling the ruling “baseless and unlawful.” 

A Russian judge days later struck down an appeal against Navalny’s sentence, instead deciding that it would only be reduced slightly by deducting his monthlong 2015 house arrest. 

Navalny made a verbal appeal to the judge and the prosecutor prior to the verdict, saying, “Imagine how great it would be to work as a judge when no one would be able to call you and give you directions what verdicts to issue.”

He also argued that his August poisoning prevented him from complying with his probation.

“Even though our country is built on injustice and we all face it, we also see that millions of people want righteousness,” Navalny said in court at the time, according to The Associated Press. “They want the righteousness and sooner or later they will have it.”