A confidante of Alexei Navalny spoke about his health. Meanwhile, Olaf Scholz expressed his sympathy. The SPD politician is concerned about the illness of the Kremlin critic.
The film producer Jaka Bizilj assumes that Navalny will survive the alleged poison attack on him. In the political talk “The right questions” on “Bild live”, Bizilj said on Sunday evening: “From my point of view, the crucial question is whether he can survive this unscathed and continue to play his role.” Bizilj, who had organized Navalny’s transport from Siberia to Berlin for treatment in the Charite, added: “If he survives what we all hope for unscathed, then he will still be out of the political battle for at least a month or two.”
Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz had previously described the news of the sudden illness of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny as “worrying”. “I wish that Mr. Navalny will get well again. And we will make it clear that we as democrats do not accept that the lives of opposition members are put in danger,” said the SPD politician and federal finance minister to the online portal of the “Neue Westfälische “. He was happy that Navalny was able to fly out to Germany, with the help of the Berlin doctors Charity can take care of him.
Berlin’s Governing Mayor Michael Müller (SPD) also wished Navalny a speedy recovery. He said that he very much hoped that Navalny would be completely healthy again in the Berlin Charité and that the cause of his state of health would be found quickly.
“We’ll tell everything”
Nawalny’s employees had postponed the information they had announced for Sunday about the possible poisoning of the opposition member to a later date. “We’ll definitely do that later,” wrote Leonid Volkov on Sunday afternoon on Twitter. He did not give exact reasons for the postponement. Volkov works for Navalny’s so-called Anti-Corruption Fund and is one of his closest confidants. On Sunday, he also accompanied his wife Julia to the Charité University Hospital in Berlin.
Previously, a tweet from Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Jarmysch said: “We will tell everything that is currently known about Alexei’s poisoning.” She wanted to report from Moscow and her colleague Leonid Wolkow from Berlin.
I’ll be on Volkov’s program tonight. We will tell you everything that is known about Alexei’s poisoning by this time https://t.co/4ZXbuakvFN
– Kira Yarmysh (@Kira_Yarmysh) August 23, 2020
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Navalny’s closest circle assumes that the Kremlin critic was poisoned. The Russian doctors, however, only speak of a metabolic disorder. “We shall now tell how it actually was,” wrote Volkov. Navalny is one of the harshest critics of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin.
“Navalny could suffer permanent damage”
The seriously ill Russian opposition member Alexej Navalny went to Berlin on Saturday Charity been delivered. An ambulance accompanied by several police vehicles brought him from Tegel Airport to the university clinic in the morning, where he is now being treated.
An ambulance plane with German doctors organized by the organization “Cinema for Peace” had flown the 44-year-old from a clinic in Omsk, Siberia, to Germany. The condition of Navalny during the flight and after landing was stable, said the film producer and founder of the organization, Jaka Bizilj. Overall, however, the condition of the activist is “very worrying”.
A special aircraft with Kremlin critic Navalny on board stands in front of a hangar at Tegel Airport. A stretcher is lifted from the plane. (Source: dpa)
As the “Spiegel” reports, the Charité assumes long-term treatment. Accordingly, the doctors providing first aid apparently expressed the fear that Navalny “in the worst case could suffer permanent damage, for example to the brain”.
The clinic has not yet commented publicly on the opposition politician’s condition. The Charité announced that after the examinations have been completed and after consultation with the family, comments will be made on the disease and further treatment steps. The examinations would take some time.
Jaka Bizilj, founder of Cinema for Peace and organizer of the ambulance transport for the Russian oppositionist Navalny, speaks to media representatives in front of the Charite. Navalny was admitted to the hospital in the morning. (Source: dpa)
Jaka Bizilj did not want to speak to the reporters about the speculations about a possible poison attack. However, he stressed that Navalny was a healthy man who collapsed overnight. Also, he probably would not have survived the flight to Moscow on Thursday had it not been for the emergency stopover in Omsk. The doctors had expressly told him that, said Bizilj.
Tough struggle for Nawalny’s release
The prominent Russian opposition activist was admitted to the hospital in Omsk unconscious and has been in a coma ever since. Only after hours of back and forth did the doctors treating him there abandon their concerns about being transported to Germany. Nawalny’s closest circle accuses the authorities and doctors of using delaying tactics to prevent a rapid transport and thus hushed up possible evidence. “Nothing hindered the transport of Navalny. It was necessary that this had to be done as soon as possible,” tweeted Jarmysch on Saturday.
The plane with Alexey has just landed in Berlin
– Kira Yarmysh (@Kira_Yarmysh) August 22, 2020
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The federal government is now hoping for a speedy recovery of the 44-year-old in Germany. One counts on “that the treatment in the Charité leads to an improvement in his condition and enables a full recovery,” said a government spokesman on request.
Fear for Kremlin critics
Alexey Navalny is one of the harshest critics of the Kremlin chief Wladimir Putin, he is the leader of the liberal opposition. The qualified lawyer regularly accuses the government and oligarchs of corruption and abuse of power. There had already been attacks on him several times.
The Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. (Source: dpa)
“Many thanks to everyone for their support. The fight for Alexei’s life and health is only just beginning, and there is still a lot to be done. At least the first step has now been taken,” wrote Jarmysch after the flight. Other members of the opposition were also relieved. “I’m so relieved that terrorists had released a hostage after long negotiations,” wrote the well-known liberal politician Ilya Yashin, who has also been a long-time companion of Navalny. “I hope that this time wasted for nothing and again nothing will not cost Alexei his life.”
“I was passed out then”
The lawyer wanted to fly back to Moscow from Siberia on Thursday. At the airport in Tomsk he had another tea, said Navalny’s spokeswoman. He felt uncomfortable during the flight and lost consciousness while on board. The plane then landed in Omsk, which is 4,000 kilometers from the German capital.
The flight to Berlin was a private initiative of the Cinema for Peace initiative led by the film producer Bizilj. A similar action took place two years ago when Pyotr Verilov came to Berlin from Moscow with severe symptoms of intoxication. He is a member of the Russian political punk group Pussy Riot. He compared the situation of Nawalny with his situation in 2018. “It’s unbelievable how similar the route is that I took two years ago. I was passed out at the time,” tweeted Wersilow. He was also treated at the Charité.
The doctors at the traditional Berlin clinic also had the Ukrainian ex-head of government in 2014 Julia Tymoshenko helped with chronic back and walking problems. Tymoshenko, who was released at the time, had suffered several herniated discs in prison. The Charité is Germany’s largest university clinic.
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