Alexei Navalny transferred to a prison hospital and tested for coronavirus after showing symptoms

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who went on a hunger strike last week to complain about his ill-treatment in prison where he was sent by the authorities, He was transferred to the prison hospital on Monday after suffering from respiratory problems and a fever.

The Izvestia portal – close to the Kremlin – reported that the Russian opposition leader, the main critic of the government of Vladimir Putin, was sent to a medical unit after a routine check revealed respiratory problems and a high fever .

“All the necessary tests have been done, including a test for the coronavirus. The convict was transferred to the medical and health service, where he is under the supervision of medical personnel. The planned sanitary and anti-epidemic measures, disinfection of all rooms, premises and ventilation are in progress in the establishment ”, said the Federal Penitentiary Service (FPSS).

“I quote the official data from today’s temperature measurement:” A strong cough, temperature of 38.1 ° C “”Navalny wrote earlier this Monday on his Instagram account. But “I continue the hunger strike, of course,” he added in his message on Monday.

In his Instagram post, Navalny also said that an inmate at the barracks he is in was hospitalized on Monday with tuberculosis, the third such case in a few weeks out of 15 inmates.

The source who confirmed the information to IzvestiaMeanwhile, he denied that there was an outbreak of tuberculosis in the prison where Navalny is located.

The main opponent of the Kremlin, 44 years old announced on March 31 that he had stopped eating to protest his conditions of detention, accusing the prison administration of having refused him access to a doctor and of having “tortured” him by preventing him from sleeping.

Navalny’s hunger strike took place a day later half a thousand doctors will sign petition demanding that the Kremlin and prison services provide immediate medical assistance to the leader of the Russian opposition.

Doctors said authorities should “Create the conditions for the normalization of Navalny’s state of health” and believed that the deterioration of the opponent’s health could be due to “Both to complications from poisoning (with chemical agent Novichok) took place last August as new diseases as part of an unfinished rehabilitation process ”.

Detained in the Pokrov penal colony, 100 km east of Moscow, he complains of severe pain in his back and loss of sensation in his legs. “He still couldn’t see a doctor, there is no diagnosis in the medical book, there is no doctor’s conclusion. However, it is proposed to treat it with nicotinic acid “said the politician.

However, the Federal Penitentiary Service had previously assured that Navalny was not deprived of sleep and that all necessary medical care was provided.

The opponent’s lawyer, Olga Mikhailova, He said his client couldn’t stand it. Navalny’s wife Yulia also spoke about her husband’s poor health and called for his release. He himself wrote that the leg loses sensation. The defense intends to request his transfer to Moscow for treatment.

Last Thursday, he reported on his social networks that he had lost 8 kilos during his stay in the penal colony No.2 of Cover. “All prisoners on hunger strike must be weighed. Navalny was also heavy. According to the documents, he arrived at the colony with 93 kg, now he has 85. That is to say -8 kg even before the hunger strike “he said in his message.

According to the opponent himself, rapid weight loss is due to “He is not allowed to sleep and is woken up 8 times a night.”

Navalny, 44, called up “Concentration camp” at Pokrov penitentiary n ° 2.

The Alianza de Médicos, a union close to the opposition leader, for its part announced that it would organize a demonstration in front of the penal colony on Tuesday to demand that the opposition have access to a doctor.

The opponent, who survived poisoning last year, was sentenced in February to two and a half years in prison for fraud in a 2014 case, which he denounces as politically motivated. More, accuses Putin of having ordered his assassination at the Federal Security Service (FSB, former KGB).

With information from Izvestia and AFP

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