Senior UN human rights officials had repeatedly criticized the sentence against Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his conditions in detention. According to sources, Navalny has died in an arctic penal colony in Siberia. He had been imprisoned since 2021 and served several sentences.
Last year, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture called on the Russian government to provide Navalny with urgent and comprehensive medical care in light of his seriously deteriorating health.
“I am saddened by the deteriorating state of Navalny’s health and the apparent lack of adequate diagnoses and medical treatment,” said Alice Edwards, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
The UN torture expert said the alleged placement of Navalny in solitary confinement on 11 separate occasions, amounting to 114 days in solitary confinement in harsh conditions over a seven-month period, appeared disproportionate and, if confirmed, would amount to a form of torture.
Last August, Navalny’s prison sentence was extended to 19 years. He had been found guilty of founding an “extremist organization”.
Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, criticized then that the verdict was based on vague and overly broad accusations of “extremism”.
”The new judgment against opposition Alexei Navalny raises renewed serious concerns about judicial harassment and instrumentalization of the court system for political purposes in Russia,” Türk said in a statement at the time.
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