Media scramble to dismiss Navalny health complaints

MOSCOW: Pro-Kremlin media on Friday launched an offensive against jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny aiming to disprove his complaints of mistreatment and lack of medical attention at his penal colony.

On Wednesday, 44-year-old Navalny announced he had launched a hunger strike demanding proper medical treatment in prison after experiencing severe back pain and numbness in his legs.

The opposition figure is serving a 2.5-year sentence on old fraud charges in a penal colony some 100 kilometres (62 miles) east of Moscow known for its harsh discipline. The pro-Kremlin Life.ru news website on Friday published CCTV footage from what it said is Navalny’s penal colony.

Several videos showing what looks like a prison dormitory show a man strongly resembling Navalny, dressed in a dark blue uniform with a shaven head. The videos are dated March 26, just under two weeks after he was transferred to Penal Colony No. 2 outside the town of Pokrov and a day after he publicly said his health was deteriorating.