Where is Putin critic Alexei Navalny? Russian leader absent at court hearing
Hindustan TimesAllies of the imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said they were searching for him for a 13th day after he failed to appear in court Monday. Jailed Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny Navalny's spokesperson Kira Yarmysh wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Navalny had multiple hearings scheduled, some of which were suspended after the politician who is President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest foe could not be located to participate in person or by video link. Although a judge suspended Monday's court proceedings for an indefinite period after Navalny could not be located, that does not mean judicial officials will find him, Yarmysh said. Yarmysh said earlier this month that those developments caused concern because Navalny had recently fallen ill and apparently fainted “out of hunger.” She said he was being “deprived of food, kept in a cell without ventilation and has been offered minimal outdoor time.” He was due to be transferred to a “special security” penal colony, a facility with the highest security level in the Russian penitentiary system.