Dozens of celebrities, including writers and actors, have signed an open letter calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin to free opposition politician Alexei Navalny and end what they say is torture in prison, Reuters reported on Friday. Agerpres.

Nobel Prize-winning writers Svitlana Alexievich, JM Coetzee, Herta Muller, Orhan Pamuk, Olga Tokarchuk and Mario Vargas Llosa are among those who signed this appeal.

Navalny, a former lawyer who made a name for himself by mocking Putin’s elite and denouncing widespread corruption among them, is serving a total of 11.5 years in prison on fraud charges he says are completely fabricated to prevent him from quitting a challenge to Putin, an idea the Kremlin rejects.

Russian authorities claim that Navalny and his supporters are extremists linked to the American intelligence agency CIA, who intend to try to destabilize Russia. They banned his organization, and new charges were brought against Navalny himself, which could increase his current prison term.

Navalny’s supporters have grown increasingly concerned about his health in recent weeks, saying they fear he may die in prison. They claim he suffered from severe abdominal pain and weight loss.

“He is constantly sent to isolation and locked in a concrete cell the size of a cage, without ventilation,” – note the signatories of the letter, which also include ballet dancer Mykhailo Barashnikov, actors Jude Law, Benedict Cumberbatch and writer Margaret. Atwood, JK Rowling and Salman Rushdie.

“Relative visits and telephone conversations are prohibited, the lawyer’s meetings with the client have been canceled. Despite the temperature, he is forced to stand on his feet all day.”

The signatories note that they join the voices of Russian doctors who demanded immediate medical assistance for Navalny, and Russian lawyers and some regional deputies who demanded an end to what they called the “torture” of Navalny.

The Kremlin declined to comment on Navalny’s treatment and his health, saying it was the responsibility of the prison service, which previously said it provided him with all the necessary medical care.

Navalny drew the admiration of the disunited Russian opposition with his voluntary return to Russia in 2021 from Germany, where he was at the time of what Western laboratory tests showed was an attempted poisoning with the Novachok military nerve agent in Siberia.

The Kremlin denied an attempt to kill him and said there was no evidence that he was poisoned with a neurotoxic substance, Reuters reported.