Navalny misses hearing as concerns over whereabouts deepen

Dec. 12 (UPI) -- The mystery surrounding the whereabouts of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny reached a new level Tuesday when a scheduled hearing at which he was supposed to appear was postponed, even leaving the judge with no answers about his location.

Navalny, one of the fiercest critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government, had not been in contact with his legal team in days and had been seriously ill.

Spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said Russian officials have refused to tell them where Navalny is located, other than he is no longer at the penal colony where he had been held while serving a 19-year sentence for extremism.

Ivan Zhdanov, the director of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that the judge presiding over Navalny's hearing asked the prison colony representative where the 47-year-old opposition leader was and was redirected to the Federal Penitentiary service.

"For seven days now we have not known where Alexei Navalny is. Lawyers are looking for him, making inquiries and writing complaints. But there is no information," Zhdanov said in a separate post on X asking those with information to contact them.

"Alexei is known all over the world. It's impossible that no one knows where he is."

Navalny's disappearance came shortly after Putin announced he would run for another six-year term as president of Russia. Navalny and his team had urged residents to vote for opposition candidates in protest.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters during a press briefing in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday that the Biden administration has "no idea" where Navalny might be and is "deeply concerned."

"We have communicated to the Russian Government that they are responsible for what happens to Mr. Navalny, while he is in their custody, and they will be held accountable by the international community," Miller warned.

On Monday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby also said that the White House was "deeply concerned" about Navalny's disappearance -- a comment that drew a sharp rebuke from longtime Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday who accused Washington of interference.

"We are talking here about one prisoner who, according to the law, was found guilty and is serving his sentence, and in this case, we consider any intervention by anyone, including the United States of America, unacceptable and impossible," Peskov told journalists.

Josep Borrell, the European Union's top diplomat, has also expressed concern about the fate of Navalny, warning Russia in a statement that its political leadership "is responsible for his safety & health in prison for which they will be held to account."

Agnes Callamard, secretary general of Amnesty International, said her thoughts are with the wife, children and friends of the jailed opposition leader.

"Oh, the fear and the anguish," she said on X. "The Russian authorities must disclose Alexei Navalny's whereabouts immediately."