Navalny Promoted to Prison Official Three Days After Death... "Price of Torture"

Three days after Russian anti-government activist Alexei Navalny died in custody, a correctional authority official was promoted.

According to a Russian legal information website on the 21st (local time), President Vladimir Putin signed a presidential decree on the 19th promoting Valery Boyarinev, the First Deputy Head of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia (FSIN).

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Appointed as the First Deputy Head of FSIN in July 2022, Boyarinev was promoted to the rank of colonel in the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs with this personnel change.

Navalny's supporters claim that he is connected to Navalny's death. Ivan Zhdanov, head of the Anti-Corruption Foundation established by Navalny, stated on Telegram regarding his promotion, "This should be understood as Putin's open reward for torture."

According to dpa news agency, during a court hearing last July, it was revealed that when Navalny was imprisoned in Penal Colony No. 6, his ability to purchase food and daily necessities was restricted due to Boyarinev's orders.

In Russian prisons, inmates can buy items and food insufficiently provided by rations at the prison canteen, but Boyarinev reportedly ordered limits on Navalny's purchase amounts.