Even profanity was forbidden, Navalny wrote. Surprisingly for a Russian prison, “this ban is strictly enforced”.
The prison, known for its Russian initials IK2, has long been known for strict application of rules. Lawyers and ex-convicts have described a separate and more severe punishment facility within their walls, where detainees are not allowed to mingle or even talk to each other.
The location is typical of Russian colony-type prisons that have evolved, with some improvements, from the gulag camps established in the 1930s. Inmates collectively live in groups of several dozen, called brigades, in low-rise, two-story buildings surrounded by walls and barbed wire.
Discipline is applied by prisoners in collusion with the principal, according to ex-convicts, an arrangement that will allow the prison administration to strictly control Navalny’s life at all times. Prisoners spend hours standing with their hands folded behind their backs, looking at their feet, forbidden to make eye contact with guards, a former inmate, nationalist politician Dmitri Dyomushkin, told a Moscow radio station recently.
Navalny, in Monday’s post, said he remains classified as a flight hazard, which means that he is woken up every hour of the night by a guard with a camera reporting on his condition.
Constant vigilance, Navalny wrote, reminded him of a dystopian novel: “I think someone up there read ‘1984’ by Orwell and said, ‘Oh, incredible. Lets do this. Education through dehumanization. ‘”
But, as he has done repeatedly in recent months, Navalny still sought to radiate optimism. He used his prison to try to show the Russians that they need not fear Putin, as long as they believe that, sooner or later, their side will prevail.