The Russian hospital where the opponent Alexeï Navalny was admitted on Friday, August 21, authorized his evacuation, considering that his condition was now « stable » after repeated refusals regarding his medical transfer. The state of health of the anti-corruption activist is attributed by his relatives to a “Intentional poisoning”. He left Omsk hospital for the airport late Friday night to Saturday.
Authorized to examine him in the intensive care unit of the Omsk hospital, German doctors had judged him, at the beginning of the afternoon, suitable for transport to Berlin. A medical plane chartered by the German non-governmental organization (NGO) Cinema for Peace arrived in the Siberian city in the morning. “We have made the decision not to oppose his being transported to another hospital, the one designated by his relatives”, Anatoly Kalinichenko, deputy director of the Omsk hospital, told reporters.
“At the request of the German medical team, the flight will be delayed until the morning of August 22”, said the regional health ministry, quoted by Russian agencies, citing “Demands of the air carriers’ union in Germany, which regulates the working conditions of aircrew”. The spokeswoman for the opponent, Kira Iarmych, had indicated on Twitter around 9 p.m. GMT that the departure would take place in “At least seven hours”, which amounts to Saturday morning in Omsk.
The poisoning trail rejected by Russian doctors
Yulia Navalnaïa, wife of Alexeï Navalny, had asked on Friday Russian President Vladimir Putin to allow her husband to be transferred to Germany. She felt reunited “All the possibilities for the immediate transport of Alexei under the supervision of high-level doctors”. French President Emmanuel Macron “Extremely concerned”, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, “Upset”, had asked Thursday respectively “Clarity” and “Transparency” on the condition of Mr. Navalny.
Seized a few hours earlier by the entourage of the lawyer, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered, Friday evening, in Moscow to authorize the family and the doctors of the Russian opponent Alexeï Navalny to to visit him to assess his state of health, Agence France-Presse (AFP) learned from the Court.
Mr. Navalny, a vocal critic of the policies pursued by Mr. Putin, was traveling from Tomsk to Moscow by plane when he became unwell. The aircraft had to make an emergency landing in Omsk. He was admitted to the city hospital, unconscious, placed in intensive care and connected to a ventilator. His allies say they are convinced that he was the victim of “Intentional poisoning”, with “Something mixed with his tea”, the only food he would have consumed Thursday morning.
“We do not believe that he suffered from poisoning”, considered for his part Dr. Kalinichenko, specifying that blood and urine tests had been performed. According to the hospital’s chief doctor, Alexander Murakhovsky, the main diagnosis is that of a metabolic problem resulting from low blood sugar.
The NGO Cinema for Peace contradicts the Russian authorities
Earlier in the morning, the spokesperson for the opponent, Kira Iarmich, had expressed concern on Twitter of State « instable » by Mr. Navalny, calling “Deadly dangerous” the fact of continuing her hospitalization in an establishment, according to her, “Not equipped” and “With a diagnosis still not made”.
“They wait for the toxins to come out and stop being detectable in the body. There is no diagnosis or analysis. Alexeï’s life is in great danger ”, also wrote a relative of Alexei Navalny, Leonid Volkov, on Twitter, calling the refusal of transfer of “Political decision and not medical”. The Kremlin said Friday morning that it was instead a procedure “Purely medical” before adding that Russian doctors were doing “Everything possible to establish the reasons for the patient’s discomfort and to get him cured”.
After being refused entry into the opponent’s room, German doctors were finally allowed to examine him and considered that a medical transfer to Germany was possible, according to Cinema for Peace, which has denied the communication of Russian doctors assuring that their refusal of such a transfer had been announced in agreement with their German colleagues.
Mr. Navalny has been the victim of physical attacks in the past
Main opponent of the Kremlin, whose publications denouncing the corruption of Russian elites are widely shared on social networks, Mr. Navalny has already been the victim of physical attacks. In 2017, he was sprayed with an antiseptic product in his eyes when leaving his office in Moscow.
Campaigning in recent days in favor of the opposition candidates for the regional elections in September, Mr. Navalny has several times been sentenced to short prison terms, in particular because of the setting up of demonstrations. His organization and its supporters are regularly subjected to pressure, arrests and legal proceedings.
The Kremlin said to wish Mr. Navalny, “Like any Russian citizen”, a “Speedy recovery”, also emphasizing that the poisoning was so far only « simple supposition ».
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