'The United States and the European Union have reiterated their calls for Russia to immediately release Aleksei Navalny after the jailed opposition politician said he was suffering from severe back pains and that “nothing” was being done by prison authorities to solve the problem.
In a message posted on his Instagram account on March 26, Navalny also said he had been warned by past prominent prisoners that getting sick in prison was potentially fatal.
"Once Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who served 10 years in prison, told me: The main thing is not to get sick there," the post said, referring to the owner of the former oil giant Yukos who spent a decade behind bars after being convicted in two controversial cases.
"Nobody will treat you. If you get seriously ill, you will die," he quoted Khodorkovsky as telling him.
Navalny, 44, is currently incarcerated in Correctional Colony No. 2, about 100 kilometers from Moscow. The prison is known as one of the toughest penitentiaries in Russia.'
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U.S., EU Demand Navalny's Freedom As Worries Grow Over Russian Opposition Leader's Health, March 26, 2021
ContextNavalny complains of torture in Russian prison, lawyer says his health worsening