Putin Promotes Top Prison Official Accused of Tormenting Navalny Behind Bars
Russia’s Vladimir Putin promoted a top prison official accused of tormenting Alexei Navalny behind bars just three days after the Kremlin foe died in prison.
Valery Boyarinev, the deputy head of the Federal Penitentiary Service, was given the special rank of colonel general by presidential decree on Feb. 19, according to a copy of the document posted on the official government portal. The Kremlin confirmed the promotion Tuesday, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisting to reporters that it was part of an “absolutely normal” process. Several other prison officials were also promoted.
But Boyarinev played a special role in Navalny’s imprisonment, having personally ordered the prison colony where he was held in the Vladimir region last year to limit the amount of food he could buy.