Daughter pleads for medical care for imprisoned Putin critic Alexei Navalny
A day after the doctor for Alexei Navalny said the imprisoned Russian opposition leader was near death, Navalny’s daughter has joined the chorus of international voices calling for him to receive immediate medical care.
“Allow a doctor to see my dad,” Daria Navalnaya tweeted Saturday. The 20-year-old is enrolled at Stanford.
Navalny is currently in the 19th day of a hunger strike. He has been imprisoned since returning to Russia in January after an assassination attempt via poisoning in August last summer. Russian authorities have denied Navalny was poisoned and have refused to open an investigation into the incident.
Recent editorials in prominent European newspapers have demanded Russian president Vladimir Putin allow Navalny access to medical care. On Saturday, President Biden described Russia’s treatment of Navalny as “totally unfair” and “totally inappropriate.” The U.S. has reportedly warned Russia that it would face consequences if Navalny dies in custody.
A group of physicians said last week that, based on self-reported symptoms, it was likely that Navalny was suffering from kidney failure and risked cardiac arrest because of severe heart-rhythm disturbances.
Russian prison authorities said they were weighing whether or not to force-feed Navalny.
