(Washington) – US Diplomacy Chief Anthony Blinken said on Saturday that he was “deeply concerned” about the lack of information regarding the whereabouts of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, whose relatives have not heard from him since the beginning of December.
“We are deeply concerned about the unknown whereabouts of Alexei Navalny, who has been missing within the Russian prison system for nearly three weeks,” the US Secretary of State said in X.
He added: “We once again call for his immediate release and an end to the ongoing suppression of independent voices in Russia.”
Supporters of the opponent, who was imprisoned at the beginning of 2021 after surviving an assassination attempt by poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin, have not heard from him since the beginning of the month.
They fear he will be transferred to another prison with a more stringent regime, a procedure that often takes weeks in Russia, a vast region tangled with Soviet-era prison institutions, many of which are located in isolated areas of the country.
“Alexey should have an audience now. He has not appeared again,” Kira Iyarmysh, a spokeswoman for the anti-corruption activist, said on Thursday. “It has been 16 days since we got any information about Alexei,” she lamented. For the competitor who is currently serving a 19-year prison sentence for “extremism.”
On December 11, the White House said it was “deeply concerned” by the lack of news related to Alexei Navalny, and several NGOs and foreign officials have reacted since then.
Mariana Katzarova, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Russia, on Monday expressed concern about the “enforced disappearance” of the leading figure in the Russian opposition.
“Total coffee aficionado. Travel buff. Music ninja. Bacon nerd. Beeraholic.”
