Jailed Russian dissident Alexei Navalny has been moved into solitary confinement again despite his lawyer complaining about his severe health problems.

The latest move came after he was only released from solitary confinement on Friday.

He was moved back to solitary confinement for another 15 days on Monday, his team said on his Telegram channel.

He is also facing further harassment by the prison authorities.

Mr Navalny’s daily period in the narrow prison yard had been moved to 7:00 a.m. 

“This is important because if you are lucky, you can stand in the square of the sun during a walk and during the day,” his team noted in their report on Wednesday evening.

They also said he faced new restrictions on buying food and writing letters.

Mr Navalny attributed this renewed period in isolation as a punishment for his investigation into corruption in the prison authorities.

The Fund for Fighting Corruption (FBK), which Mr Navalny leads, had previously published an article about the overpriced food items available for purchase in Russian prisons.

The new restrictions hit Mr Navalny as he suffered from increasing health problems. Earlier on Tuesday, his lawyer Vadim Kobsev said the dissident had lost eight kilogrammes over a period of two weeks during his last stint in isolation.

The authorities had to call an ambulance in response. 

Mr Kobsev said Mr Navalny was not being treated for his medical problems and that the prison administration refused to accept the medication given to him.

Mr Navalny has been in particularly harsh prison conditions in a penal camp for more than two years.

A Russian court sentenced him for alleged fraud, but Mr Navalny is widely viewed as a political prisoner of President Vladimir Putin’s regime. 

Internationally, he is the best-known Russian opposition figure. 

(dpa/NAN)