Doctors for Alexei Navalny have warned that the opposition leader jailed in Russia could go into cardiac arrest at any time.

A group of doctors supporting Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny they asked immediate access to the dissident, imprisoned and on hunger strike, after warning that the potassium level in his blood is “critical” and that he is at risk of “cardiac arrest” at any moment.

The most prominent critic of the President of Russia, Vladimir Poutine, started a hunger strike March 31 to seek medical treatment for his back pain and loss of sensation in both legs.

Navalny is serving a sentence of two and a half years on corruption charges in a penal colony in the town of Pokrov, about 100 kilometers east of Moscow.

Navalny’s personal doctor, Anastasia Vasilyeva, and three other doctors, including a cardiologist, asked prison officials urgent and immediate access to the dissident.

The letter to the head of the federal penal system was posted on Vasilyeva’s Twitter account on Saturday.

“Serum potassium is 7.1 mmol / l. These are critical levels “explained the doctor on the social network.

“This means that the functions of both kidneys are imbalanced and a heart problem can occur at any time.”, he clarified.

A blood potassium level above 6.0 mmol / L usually requires immediate treatment.

In their joint letter, the doctors do not exclude that Navalny, who shortly survived poisoning with the toxic agent Novichok, could suffer from a “heart failure”.

According to the statement, Navalny’s lawyers were unable to visit him over the weekend, but doctors believe he needs to be treated immediately. “Taking into account the blood tests and his recent poisoning”.

His lawyers and allies demand that he be transferred to a regular hospitalBut the Kremlin said it was not entitled to any special treatment.

Amnesty International reported that Russian authorities subject politician to “slow death” and its secretary general, Agnes Callamard, asked Putin to have Navalny treated by his trusted doctors.

More than 70 writers, artists and scholars, including Jude Law, Vanessa Redgrave and Benedict Cumberbatch asked Putin to ensure that Navalny receives appropriate treatment, by means of a letter published in the French newspaper The world.

Navalny denounced that they were trying to force-feed him

The Leader of the Opposition assured Friday that he had received threats to feed him against his will, using “strait-jackets and other delicacies”.

In an Instagram post, Navalny claimed that an official told him that a blood test indicated his health was deteriorating and that is why threatened to force-feed him if he refused to eat.

“And then she detailed the joys of force-feeding me. Straitjacket and other delicacies “said a Kremlin dissident, who asked the authorities not to do so, “mentioning a clause in the law”.

The opposition leader added that the prison authorities refused to allow his doctor to visit him because “They fear the loss of feeling ‘in their legs’ is related to poisoning” and reaffirmed that he had “the absolutely guaranteed right to be examined by an independent civilian doctor”.

(With information from AFP and AP)

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