Navalny in solitary confinement sixth time in a row for ‘refusing to wash fence’

Alexey Navalny, Russia’s opposition politician and Putin’s critic who is now in prison, was sent into solitary confinement for the sixth time in a row, as per his Instagram.

“I’m in solitary confinement again. I served 12 days there recently, and now I’ll be there for 14 more days. Well, if I were to paint the fence like Tom Sawyer, that would be a groovy thing to do. But ‘washing’ a fence seems like nonsense to me,” Navalny said.

Navalny was last sent to solitary confinement on 23 September. Kira Yarmysh, his spokesperson, says the prison’s administration told Navalny he was punished for “speaking out about the mobilisation” during his latest court session.

The first time Navalny said he had been sent to solitary confinement was on 15 August. According to him, that was punishment for “regularly unbuttoning the top button of his prison robe” while in the industrial zone. The second time was on 24 August — for “3 seconds of hands not behind his back”. The third time was on 30 August, the morning after he was released from his previous stint in solitary confinement. The fourth time was on 7 September, for 15 days.