Russian opposition leader was examined after hundreds of doctors denounced his precarious condition in an open letter to President Vladimir Putin. “We cannot and do not have the right to stand idly by as politician Alexei Navalny’s health is knowingly undermined,” they declared.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was examined by a doctor in prison after hundreds of clinicians denounced his precarious state in an open letter to President Vladimir Putin, the politician’s lawyer said on Friday.
The examination was carried out by the head of the hospital at prison number 03 in the city of Vladimir, where the opponent was hospitalized during the 2021 hunger strike, explained the lawyer through the social network Twitter.
Vadim Kobzev specified that his client did not receive any medicine, except for the antibiotics he was given the day before when his condition — fever and cough — improved slightly.
Hundreds of doctors this week signed an open letter addressed to Putin to stop prison abuses against Navalny, who fell ill after being punished again for bad behavior. “We demand that he be examined by civilian doctors and, in case of symptoms, that he be hospitalized for complete examinations and treatments,” the missive highlights.
Doctors warn “to be clear” that “from a medical point of view, Alexei is not receiving sufficient medical care and his confinement in the punishment cell is absolutely contraindicated for his condition”.
“We cannot and do not have the right to watch with our arms crossed as the health of the politician Alexei Navalny is consciously undermined”, they stress.
For clinicians, the “refusal of representatives of prison services to provide Navalny with the necessary drugs poses a direct threat to his life.”
Doctors also remember that Putin is the guarantor of the Russian Constitution which, in Article 41, stipulates that “every citizen”, including prisoners, has the right to medical assistance.
Navalny, who has already been punished ten times since arriving at prison number 06 in the Vladimir region in 2021, assured on Telegram that he was sent to the punishment cell on December 31, for taking care of his hygiene after hours.
The 46-year-old opponent, awarded the Sakharov Prize by the European Parliament last year, considers that the objective of prison services is to make prisoners sick so that they have no choice but to collaborate.
Russian justice rejected an appeal by Navalny’s lawyers in November and upheld the nine-year prison sentence imposed for fraud and contempt.
Source: With Agencies