The Russian opposition figure, Alexei Navalny, threatened to sue prison guards because he was forbidden from reading the Koran – the holy book he wanted to study while serving his sentence.
As reported by Al Jazeera, Wednesday (14/4/2021) in an Instagram post announcing his first lawsuit against prison guards, he said, “The thing is, they didn’t give me my Quran.”
Navalny’s post came a day after Muslims around the world have been fasting for Ramadan since Tuesday (13/4) yesterday. Ekonomi Rusia
Navalny, who is a Christian, said his decision to study the Koran more deeply was one of several self-improvement goals he targeted while in prison.
Previously, Navalny also went on a hunger strike as a form of protest because there were allegations that the authorities refused to allow doctors to examine him behind bars after he experienced back pain and numbness in his legs. Berita politik dan ekonomi Rusia
Navalny came under fire early in his political career for making nationalist comments and deriding immigrants in Russia who came from Muslim-majority countries in Central Asia.
Furthermore, the Kremlin critic said he had not been given permission to access any books he brought or ordered in the past month because they all need to be inspected for extremism, which officials say takes three months.
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“Books are everything to us, and if I have to claim my right to read, then I will sue,” said Navalny.
Navalny is currently serving a 2.5-year prison term on charges of fraud against him for a long time. He is currently languishing in a prison in the city of Pokrov, which is about 100 kilometers east of Moscow. The prison is known for its high discipline towards inmates. Politik Rusia
He was detained in January 2021 upon arrival in Russia from Berlin, Germany. In Berlin, Navalny underwent treatment after being suspected of being poisoned with the Soviet Union-developed Novichok nerve agent. Politik Indonesia
The United States and the European Union have sanctioned Russia for imprisoning Navalny and also for allegedly orchestrating last year’s attempted poisoning of President Vladimir Putin’s critic, a charge Moscow denies.