Life inside is hidden behind high metal fences and barbed wire around this dilapidated facility in the Vladimir region of Russia, a two-hour drive from the capital Moscow.
“I had no idea that it was possible to arrange a real concentration camp at 100 km from Moscow,” Navalny said, adding that his head was shaved.
“Camcorders are everywhere, everyone is being watched and at the slightest offense they are doing a report. I think someone upstairs read Orwell’s ‘1984’,” Navalny continued, referring to the classic dystopian novel.
Life in prison, in the city of Pokrov, could become even more banal, stressful and possibly more dangerous, according to one former prisoner.
According to him, Konstantin Kotov served two miserable sentences – the first for four months, the second for six months – in the penal colony no. 2 for violating Russian anti-protest laws.
He was last released in December and was anxious to return, but agreed to travel with CNN to explain how the penal colony works on the inside.
“From the first minutes you are here, you experience spiritual and moral pressure,” he told CNN.
“You are forced to do things you would never do in normal life. You are forbidden to talk to other convicts. They force you to know the name list of the employees. You are on your feet all day “From 6 to 22:00 You may not sit down. They do not allow you to read, they do not allow you to write a letter. It can take two weeks, it can take three weeks.”
Navalny was jailed after a Moscow court on February 2 replaced his suspended sentence with jail time for violations of his probation.
Now that he has been confirmed to be at Penal Colony 2, he is expected to serve the remainder of his sentence there.
‘Torture by TV’
Kotov, the former prisoner, explained that prisoners sleep in barracks in iron bunk beds. About 50 to 60 men slept in his room, according to each with only a small amount of living space.
“You get up at 6 in the morning, you go to the courtyard nearby and listen to the national anthem of Russia – every day the national anthem of the Russian Federation,” he said.
“You can not write, you can not read. For example, I watched TV all day, Russian federal channels. It is torture by TV.”
This is what he calls the ‘daily meaningless activity’ which, according to Kotov, sets the tone, but then there are the ongoing corrections for any alleged violations.
“I was reprimanded for not saying hello to an employee, and for undoing my top button,” Kotov said.
The slightest offense could mean taking a prisoner to solitary confinement, Kotov said, perhaps for months on end.
The order is maintained by prison guards and prisoners known as ‘organizers’ who cooperate with the prison administration.
Although the ordinance is also a condemnation, Kotov said, they depend on the report of anyone who does not show it.
“They are like spies who follow you every step of the way and report to the government,” Kotov said.
Alexander Kalashnikov of Russia’s Federal Prison Service (FSIN) said Navalny was being treated like any other prisoner.
“Everything is done within the framework of the law and the current legislation,” he told reporters in late February.
‘Kingdom of Fear’
Violence can be common in Russian prisons. Disturbing video released by the Russian investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta shows prisoners being beaten by guards in a penal colony in Yaroslavl, the region along which Navalny is being held. A Russian court has found several people guilty of involvement in what has become a national scandal, but former prisoners say it is not an isolated case.
According to Kotov, he saw prisoners in the penal colony no. 2 be beaten by ordinants. They mostly turned a chair leg and hit people on the heels – painful and inconspicuous – he told CNN.
Navalny said in his Instagram post that he had not yet witnessed any violence, but he believed the numerous stories of brutality in the colony easily because of the fear he saw among his fellow prisoners.
He said he is woken up every hour by a guard shining a camera and light in his face to see if he is there as he is a ‘flight risk’.
Kotov said he was afraid of Navalny’s mental state rather than his physical health, saying he believed Navalny’s high profile would mean officials did not want him physically harmed.
“They want to deprive him of his voice,” Kotov told CNN. “That’s their goal.”
Prisoner rights expert Pyotr Kuryanov, of the Defending Prisoners’ Rights Foundation, said the situation was “very dangerous” in the prison camp, which he described as an “empire of fear.”
“It’s hard to stay there and keep a cool head and not respond to provocations,” he told CNN. “It’s psychologically very difficult. The slightest possible offense … can cause a prisoner serious physical harm.”
Within the two-story baroque rows, inmates can be ordered to clean floors with toothbrushes and other degrading and senseless tasks designed to humiliate, Kuryanov said.
“I do not rule out that Alexey may be the victim of a nervous breakdown,” he added.