Putin foe Navalny says he sues prison for withholding Quran
MOSCOW (AP) — Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said Tuesday he was suing his prison for withholding the Quran, which he intended to study while serving time in a prison outside Moscow.
Navalny has been on a hunger strike for two weeks, protesting prison officials' refusal to let his physician examine him behind bars after he developed severe back and leg pain. But he said Tuesday in an Instagram post that his first lawsuit against prison officials had to do with the Muslim holy book.
“The thing is, they're not giving my Quran. And it pisses me off,” Navalny said, adding that “deeply studying” the Quran was one of several “self-improvement” goals he set for himself while in prison. The politician said he hasn't been given access to any of the books he brought or ordered over the past month, because they all need to be “inspected for extremism," which officials say takes three months.
“So I wrote one more petition to the (prison) chief and filed a lawsuit,” Navalny said. “Books are our everything, and if I have to sue for my right to read, then I'll be suing.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/putin-foe-navalny-says-sues-131119782.html
