Navalny on life in prison

Islam News – In his first interview from jail, the Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny described the psychological pressure that political prisoners are subjected to, and his conviction that “Putin’s regime,” as he calls it, is doomed to collapse.

“You need to imagine something like a Chinese labor camp, where everybody marches in a line and where video cameras are hung everywhere. There is constant control and a culture of snitching,” Navalny said in a written exchange with The Times.

He is forced to watch Russian state TV for eight hours a day, he said, part of a so-called awareness raising program that has replaced hard labor. Doing anything else during that time is prohibited, Navalny said. Otherwise, he sweeps the prison yard, reads letters in his cellblock or makes snacks with the other inmates.

Post-Putin Russia: Despite his circumstances, Navalny was upbeat about prospects for change in Russia. “Sooner or later, this mistake will be fixed, and Russia will move on to a democratic, European path of development. Simply because that is what the people want.”

The interview: Navalny is serving a two-year sentence that could be extended in a penal colony east of Moscow. He provided written answers to questions. The 54 handwritten pages are by far his most comprehensive and wide-ranging account.

Source: The New York Times