まるで中国の強制労働収容所　ナワリヌイ氏、初の獄中インタビュー

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】ロシアのウラジーミル・プーチン大統領批判派の急先鋒（せんぽう）である野党勢力指導者アレクセイ・ナワリヌイ氏が獄中から初めてインタビューに応じた。収容所の環境を中国の強制労働収容所になぞらえ、国営テレビの視聴を１日８時間強制されていると訴えた。（写真はドイツ・ベルリンのシャリテ大学病院で、階段を下りるロシアの野党勢力指導者アレクセイ・ナワリヌイ氏。本人のインスタグラムアカウントより）
　ナワリヌイ氏は、首都モスクワから東に約１００キロ離れたポクロフの収容所に収監されている。
　２５日付の米紙ニューヨーク・タイムズに掲載されたインタビューの中で、ナワリヌイ氏は旧ソ連の収容所「グラグ」での強制労働の時代は終わり、代わりに洗脳とプロパガンダによる「心理的暴力」が行われていると語った。
　ナワリヌイ氏は、「タトゥーの入った腕っぷしの強い男たちが、特等席の窓際のベッドを奪い合い、ナイフを使ったけんかを日夜繰り広げているとイメージするかもしれない」と前置きした上で、「（しかし実際には）中国の強制労働収容所のようなものを想像する必要がある。皆が一列になって行進し、至る所に監視カメラがある、常時管理されており、密告の文化がある」と語った。
　受刑者は監視下で国家のプロパガンダを何時間も見せられ、何かを読んだり書いたりすることは許されず、眠ると起こされるという。
　ナワリヌイ氏はプーチン政権の将来について、楽観的な見方を示し、いつかは終わると主張した。「遅かれ早かれ、この過ちは正され、ロシアは民主的で欧州的な発展の道を歩みだす。国民が望んでいるというだけのことだ」
　一方、欧米諸国によるロシア制裁については、権力者ではなく庶民にダメージを与えるものだと再度批判した。
　また、他の受刑者らから暴行を受けたことはなく、一緒に食事を作るのは「楽しい」とさえ語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/08/26-12:24）

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has given his first interview from prison, comparing it to a Chinese labor camp and saying he is forced to watch eight hours of state television a day.
Navalny, who built his political career on exposing corruption in Russia, is being held in a maximum security prison colony in Pokrov, 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Moscow.
He told The New York Times the days of heavy labor in Soviet gulags were over -- replaced by what he called the psychological violence of brainwashing and propaganda.
You might imagine tattooed muscle men with steel teeth carrying on with knife fights to take the best cot by the window, Navalny was quoted as saying in the interview, published Wednesday.
You need to imagine something like a Chinese labor camp, where everybody marches in a line and where video cameras are hung everywhere. There is constant control and a culture of snitching.
He said guards monitored them as they watched hours of state propaganda, not allowing them to read or write and waking inmates up if they fell asleep.
But Navalny remained upbeat about the future of the regime of Vladimir Putin, insisting that one day it would end.
Sooner or later, this mistake will be fixed, and Russia will move on to a democratic, European path of development. Simply because that is what the people want, he said.
He also repeated criticisms of the United States and European governments for sanctions on Russia, which he said harm Russian people rather than those in power.
He said he has not been assaulted by any fellow prisoners, and even described having fun making snacks with them.
Navalny has not been silent since his jailing in March, releasing a letter from prison and also managing several social media posts, but the interview with the Times was the first since his imprisonment.
Western intelligence agencies have assessed with high confidence that FSB officers poisoned Navalny with the nerve agent Novichok last year.
The dissident was flown to Germany for treatment but defiantly returned to Russia in January, only to be arrested and sent to the penal colony.
The Kremlin denies poisoning Navalny and has maintained his prison sentence is not political.
This month, he was charged with new crimes that could prolong his jail time by three years. If found guilty, he could only be released after 2024, the year Russia is scheduled to hold a presidential election.
His movement has faced unprecedented pressure ahead of September parliamentary polls in Russia, in which Putin's United Russia party is expected to struggle.