The case was unearthed by several Russian media in exile, including the news website Meduza. A year and a half before Navalny was transferred, guards at the IK-3 special-regime prison in Kharp, in the Arctic, tried to pass off the death of a prisoner as suicide, although it was believed to have been caused by torture.
Unusually, this case was investigated, not least because the guards waited four days to announce the death and grossly falsified official documents. Two guards are still being prosecuted for “violence resulting in death” and two others for “negligence” before the court in Labytnangui, the neighboring town to Kharp in the Yamalo-Nenets region.
Bakhrombek Sharifov, 43 at the time of his death and sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment for drug trafficking, had been transferred to IK-3 after denouncing extortion attempts by staff at his former prison in Altai. After he arrived at IK-3, the inmate was reportedly regularly taken to an isolation cell, which, according to several inmates, was used as a regular place of torture. After his death, guards ordered other prisoners to burn all traces and personal effects that could implicate them.
Almost non-existent access to healthcare
The Sharifov case has no direct connection with the reasons for Navalny’s death, announced on February 16, if they ever come to light. The experience of Navalny’s first years in prison and his own accounts showed that he was protected from direct physical attacks, with the prison administration focusing instead on breaking him down through constant psychological pressure and repeated trips to the punishment cell, in conditions that may have impacted his health, already affected by the poisoning in August 2020.
But this case is a reminder that Navalny was knowingly sent to a colony that is difficult to access (at the same time as three of his lawyers were imprisoned), with routine violence and a high mortality rate, where no complaints emerge, and where access to healthcare is virtually non-existent.
The few elements made public in the Sharifov case corroborate the accounts gathered by Holod, an independent Russian news platform known for its in-depth investigations. These included statements from three former prisoners in the “Polar Wolf,” IK-3’s nickname, who were released only to be sent to the Ukrainian front, where they spoke on condition of anonymity.
The technique used against drug dealers involves beating the prisoner before bundling him up in blankets and mattresses compressed with scotch tape, with only the head protruding. In this position, the prisoner is then fed with a funnel and forced to soil themselves.
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