Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who is serving time in a strict regime colony No. 6 (IK-6) in Melehovo, Vladimir region, has established a “syndicate of convicts and jailers” called the “Industrial Zone”. “Hello, this is Navalny, the leader and founder of the union of citizens employed in the companies of the criminal correctional system, Promzona,” the politician wrote on Twitter on Thursday, August 10th.

He explained his action by the fact that around 600,000 people are being exploited in Russian prisons, but added that he would be happy to represent the guards’ interests if necessary. “Well, why not? I’m a worker in the colony. A seamstress. And other prisoners are also workers. And security guards are also colony workers. In terms of labor rights, we don’t differ. We can create a trade union to protect our rights.” said Alexei Navalny.

Field administration declares union “illegal”

At first, IK-6 management took Navalny’s official statement as a joke, but later declared the union’s creation “illegal”. “Then they started calling me daily to the disciplinary committee and giving me reprimands for all sorts of formal reasons: violation of the uniform, etc. Then a whole delegation came to my barracks and solemnly handed me a “warning of an impending crime. “I cook by creating a union. To be honest, the convicts were even more afraid of the union than the administration,” Navalny shared and added, “Every time I talk about him, my killers sadly say, ‘Alexey, please stop. . Because of you, we will never be freed, and it will all end badly.”

According to the opposition, the union has already won its first victory: the colony’s administration replaced the stools in the sewing workshop with chairs with backrests. “If you sit at a sewing machine seven or eight hours a day, believe me, this is important,” Navalny wrote. The next step will be to replace benches with seats across Russia, the politician expressed confidence.

Alexei Navalny also announced on social media that he had sent a notice of the creation of a union to the director of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN), as well as the head of the IK-6.

“Aleksey is incredibly cool,” Kira Yarmysh, his press secretary, said of Navalny, speaking of the politician’s commitment to protecting the rights of other prisoners.