Alexei Navalny, a politician and the founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, has been sent to a punishment cell for the fourth time, according to his social media accounts.
Navalny reports he was sent back to a punishment cell for 15 days immediately after he was released from solitary confinement. In addition, he was found to be a “persistent violator”. This means that he will now be held under strict conditions of detention.
Because of this, Navalny was deprived of visits: “By the way, the pettiness of these crooks is something to be appreciated. My wife and parents have been waiting for an opportunity to visit me for four months, and now I’m being sent to strict regime where I only get a visit once every six months. So, I'm out of luck.” In his opinion, this is how the Kremlin is reacting to the Smart Vote and the calls for sanctions against Putin and his associates.
Navalny was first placed in a punishment cell on August 15. Technically, that was because he “regularly unbuttoned” the top button of his prison robe while in the industrial zone. The second time he was sent to a punishment cell was on August 24 - allegedly for not holding his hands behind his back for three seconds while being escorted. On August 30, Navalny was placed in a punishment cell for the third time - for “incorrectly introducing himself”.