Alexey Navalny is in a cage during a defamation hearing in the Babuskinsky district court in Moscow on February 12.
Source: Babuskinsky district court
Source: Babuskinsky district court
The state of the Russian opposition, Alexey Navalny, imprisoned has worsened sharply after a two-and-a-half week hunger strike, his supporters said on Saturday.
“Alexey is dying now. Given its status, it’s a matter of days, ”Navalny spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said Facebook.
Anastasia Vasilieva, who leads the Alliance of Physicians union with Navalny’s support, posted a copy of the results of her blood tests showing what she said were “critical” levels of potassium. “This means kidney failure that can cause a severe heartbeat disorder at any time,” including the possibility of heart failure, he told Twitter.
On Saturday, U.S. President Joe Biden was asked about Navalny’s state. “It’s totally unfair,” Biden told reporters in brief comments. “Totally inappropriate.”
Navalny, 44, has been detained at the famous IK-2 prison camp about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Moscow since March 11. The most outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin was jailed for violating parole rules while recovering in Germany from a fatal chemical poisoning in Siberia that he and Western governments blamed on the Kremlin. Russian authorities deny their involvement.
After complaining of acute back and leg pain, Navalny went on a hunger strike on March 31 to demand specialized care from doctors outside the prison system. In a post on his Instagram account on Friday, Navalny’s allies reported that a prison official had warned him that a blood test indicated a “serious deterioration” in his health and that he would be fed by force if the protest did not end.
The Federal Penitentiary Service did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Officials have previously said Navalny has received all the necessary medical care.
Putin, Alexey’s Poison and Importance Navalny: QuickTake
Biden put pressure on Putin in a phone call on Tuesday about the poisoning of the opposition leader, which U.S. intelligence has publicly accused of the Russian Federal Security Service. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron also questioned Putin about Navalny in a March 30 phone call.
Dozens of public figures urged Putin in an open letter Friday to ensure Navalny received “immediate” medical treatment. So far, Russia has set aside all Western criticism of the case and Kremlin officials refuse to even mention Navalny by name.
Although his condition is deteriorating, Russian prosecutors intensified crackdowns on Friday by asking a Moscow court to declare the Navalny Anti-Corruption Foundation and the headquarters of the Moscow campaign as extremist organizations. The opposition group warned that the designation could subject its entire staff and volunteers to criminal prosecution and imprisonment.
(Updates with Biden’s comment in the fourth paragraph.)