Russian dissident Alexey Navalny has been transferred to solitary confinement according to tweets sent by himself and staff.
Navalny is currently serving a years-long prison sentence for charges that include fraud, which he says were created as a political move to keep him away from his role as Russian opposition leader.
Navalny wrote ironically in a statement, “Congratulations, I’ve moved up one more level in the hierarchy of prison offenders.”
He said that while in a cramped cell-type space he is allowed only two books and has a small budget for items from the prison commissary, CNN reported.
His spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said on Twitter, “Alexey Navalny was transferred to a cell-type room. It’s like a punishment cell, only not for 15 days, but forever.”
According to Russian law, imprisonment in a cell of this type can only last a maximum of six months.
He was transferred in June from a penal colony where he was serving time to a higher security prison in the Vladimir Region.
