MOSCA – Alexei Navalny he risks cardiac arrest “at any moment”: his health is rapidly deteriorating, his doctors warn, asking for immediate access to the dissident, the most famous prisoner in Russia. From March 31 the opponent of the president Vladimir Putin he is on hunger strike to demand adequate medical treatment for his back pain and the numbness of hands and legs that plague him in prison.
Russia, the opponent Navalnyj announces a hunger strike in prison
by Rosalba Castelletti
Navalnyj, 44, was jailed last February and is serving two and a half years on old allegations of embezzlement in a penal colony in the city of Pokrov, about 100 kilometers east of Moscow. Navalny’s doctor, Anastasia Vasiljeva, and three other doctors, including the cardiologist Jaroslav Ashikhmin, asked prison officials to grant them immediate access. “Our patient can die at any time,” Ashikhmin wrote on Facebook, pointing to the opposition politician’s high potassium levels and saying Navalny should be moved to intensive care. “Fatal arrhythmia can develop at any time.”
Russia, fears for the “life and health” of the opponent Navalnyj in prison
by Rosalba Castelletti
Navalny barely survived a poisoning with nerve agent Novichok in August, for which he blamed the Kremlin. His doctors say his hunger strike may have exacerbated his condition. Having blood potassium levels above 6.0 mmol (millimole) per liter usually requires immediate treatment.
Navalny’s are at 7.1, doctors said. “This means both impaired kidney function and severe heart rhythm problems can happen at any time,” Vasiljeva’s Twitter account reads. Doctors said he must be examined immediately “taking into account the blood tests and his recent poisoning.”
Russia, Navalnyj: “I have fever and cough, tuberculosis epidemic in prison”
by Rosalba Castelletti
Navalnyj’s spokesperson, Kira Jarmysh, who was with him when he collapsed on a plane after being poisoned in August, said the situation is critical again. “Alexei is dying,” he says on Facebook. “In his condition it is a matter of days”. The spokesperson added that she felt as if he was “back on that plane, only this time he is landing in slow motion”, noting that access to Navalny is limited and few Russians know what happens to him in prison.
More than 70 leading international writers, artists and academics, including Jude Law, Vanessa Redgrave e Benedict Cumberbatch, called on Putin to ensure that Navalny receives adequate treatment immediately.
“Navalny in need of medical treatment”: the appeal of writers, artists and university teachers for the Russian opponent
Navalny’s team previously announced plans to stage what they said would be “the largest protest in modern Russia”. Navalny’s allies said they would set a date for the protest once 500,000 supporters registered on a website.
By Saturday, more than 440,000 people had signed up. Jarmysh on Saturday urged more Russians to sign up, saying a large rally could help save Navalny’s life. “Putin only reacts to mass protests,” he added. Earlier this week, Navalny’s wife Yulia, who visited him in the penal colony, said that her husband now weighs 76 kilograms: he has lost 9 kilograms since the start of the hunger strike.
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