MOSCOW - Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, whose health has deteriorated in prison, has gotten another unusual public show of support, as dozens of current and former municipal deputies and local lawmakers signed an open letter on Wednesday demanding that he receive more humane treatment and access to proper medical care.
Navalny’s health has deteriorated in the harsh conditions of his imprisonment. In late December, posting on Twitter, Navalny said he believed that Russian officials were intentionally endangering his health to bend him to their will. His wife has urged prison officials to provide him with medicine. “It is very clear to everyone who follows Alexei’s life – the purpose of his continuous incarceration in a punishment cell is to create unbearable conditions for him the penal colony and to cause harm to his physical and mental health, as well as to create a threat to his life,” the letter said. It added that the deputies had constituents who had supported Navalny’s political activities and his fight against corruption for years.
Such public dissent has become particularly rare in Russia since Mr Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine and then effectively criminalized any public opposition to it. The risks are serious: One Russian lawmaker was sentenced to seven years in prison this summer for denouncing the war.