Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny failed to appear at another court hearing on Monday, further raising concerns about his well-being 10 days after his team lost contact with him.
Navalny, who had been imprisoned in a penal colony about 150 miles east of Moscow, was scheduled to have several court hearings on Monday, his spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said. Two have already taken place without him being present and the judge suspended the rest until Navalny’s “location is established.”
The 47-year-old was found guilty earlier this year and sentenced to 19 years for creating an extremist community, financing extremist activities and numerous other crimes. He was already serving sentences totaling 11-and-a-half years in a maximum security facility on fraud and other charges, all of which he denies.
Supporters of Navalny claim his arrest and incarceration are a politically motivated attempt to stifle his criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Over the weekend, lawyers for Navalny’s team made inquiries with more than 200 pre-trial detention centers across the country, Yarmysh said. “We are waiting for answers,” she said.
A judge at the Oktyabrsky Court in Vladimir region suspended the hearings until Navalny’s “location is established,” but “there are no such grounds in the law,” said Vyacheslav Gimadi, lawyer for Navalny’s team.
“The court instead of justice and the obligation of the Federal Penitentiary Service to ensure the plaintiff’s turnout, wrote off the hearings for an indefinite period,” he said, adding “#whereisNavalny.”
The Federal Penitentiary Service presented a certificate that Navalny was not in [penal colony] IK-6, his team said. The representatives of the Federal Penitentiary Service said the date when he was taken away and the location he was taken to were not known.
Mariana Katzarova, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, contacted Russian authorities on Friday after Navalny failed to appear at another hearing, the UN said in a statement Monday.
“I am greatly concerned that the Russian authorities will not disclose Mr. Navalny’s whereabouts and well-being for such a prolonged period of time which amounts to enforced disappearance,” Katzarova said.
“I have learned that the court hearing on the violations of Mr. Navalny’s human rights in detention, scheduled for Friday, did not take place. Mr. Navalny’s lawyers, who have been prevented from meeting him since 6 December, were told by the court that their client is no longer held in the Vladimir region, without providing any further details,” she added.
Katzarova expressed concerns about Navalny’s “persistent ill-treatment in detention and lack of access to adequate medical care” since January 17, 2021, which has resulted in “further harm to his health and great risks to his life.”
Navalny was being prepared to be transferred to a harsher penal colony after he was sentenced on August 4, 2023 to an additional 19 years on “baseless ‘extremism’ charges,” she said. The transportation of detainees poses additional risks for their wellbeing, including risks of human rights violations, she said.
Katzarova went on to say that on October 13, 2023, three of Navalny’s lawyers were also arrested on charges of “extremism” and are now facing themselves a potential lengthy imprisonment.
“I call on Russian authorities to abide by their international human rights obligations. The term ‘extremism’ has no basis in international law, and when it
triggers criminal liability it constitutes a violation of human rights, which must be condemned,” Katzarova said.
“Mr. Navalny and all those arbitrarily detained should be released immediately and provided remedies and reparations for all the harm suffered, in line with international human rights obligations,” the Special Rapporteur added.