Navalny described his initial impressions and living conditions at Penal Colony No. 2 on his official Instagram account on Monday. The post also featured Navalny’s selfie with a shaved head and black t-shirt.
“I have to admit that the Russian prison system was able to surprise me. I had no idea that it was possible to set up a real concentration camp 100 kilometers from Moscow” he said. He also noted that “Video cameras are everywhere, everyone is watched and at the slightest violation they make a report. I think someone upstairs read Orwell’s ‘1984 and said: – Yeah, cool. Let’s do this. Education through dehumanization.”.
Konstantin Kotov, who served two sentences at Penal Colony No. 2 for breaking Russian anti-protest laws, explained how the prison works on the inside to CNN:
“You are forced to do things that you would never do in normal life. You are forbidden to talk with other convicts. They force you to learn the list of names of the employees. You are on your feet all day, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. You are not allowed to sit down. They do not allow you to read, they do not allow you to write a letter. It can last two weeks, it can last three weeks.”
━
Read the full story on CNN:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/15/europe/russia-navalny-penal-colony-no2/index.html
Navalny’s Instagram post:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CMcVo3qFSvY/
