Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny sent to penal colony: Head of Russian prison

Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny has been transferred from a Moscow detention center to a penal colony, the head of Russia’s prison service confirmed on Friday. 

Alexander Kalashnikov of Russia’s federal penitentiary service (FSIN) told reporters, “According to the court’s decision, he left to where he currently should be. Everything is done within the framework of the law and the current legislation.” However, the exact location and name of the penal colony are not revealed yet.

Kalashnikov insisted that Navalny would serve his sentence in “absolutely normal conditions.”

Navalny’s lawyers told CNN that no details had been provided to his team or family on where he was being moved to after shifting Navalny from Matrosskaya Tishina detention center in Moscow.

Marina Litvinovich of Moscow’s Public Monitoring Commission (ONK) said Navalny is sent to a “general regime” penal colony, the most common type of prison in Russia. 

Litvinovich says prisoners are divided into groups and are not usually kept in cells. They can work if they want to, she added.

Russian leaders have classified Navalny as a flight risk, a characterization the activist has mocked – so Litvinovich says he might be subjected to special supervision or investigations.