(Moscow) Russian opponent Alexei Navalny, imprisoned for two years, said on Wednesday that he suffered from flu-like symptoms and was deprived of satisfactory access to care, his supporters denouncing an attempt by the Kremlin to “kill” him slowly.
From his cell, Alexeï Navalny was to attend three hearings during the day by videoconference concerning complaints against restrictions taken against him by the prison administration.
He spoke before the judge and asked for a postponement of these three hearings for health reasons, which he obtained, his spokesperson, Kira Iarmych, confirmed to AFP.
Alexei Navalny, 46, said he had to fight “a fierce struggle” to obtain “basic medicines” and was refused hospitalization in the medical unit of his prison, located 200 km from Moscow.
“I took four days to get a little more hot water,” he said, quoted by his team, claiming to have “fever and tension”.
He further indicated that the prison administration forced his co-detainee to go back and forth between the medical unit of the prison, affected by an influenza epidemic, and their cell.
Russian President “(Vladimir) Putin tries again and again to kill Navalny, but in a more discreet and slower way”, denounced his team on Wednesday.
On Instagram, his wife, Yulia Navalnaïa, accused the prison authorities of refusing to treat her husband and of “expressly” degrading his conditions of detention. “Are you human? “, she launched them.
Nearly 500 Russian doctors have signed a petition, posted on Facebook, calling on Vladimir Putin to provide proper care to Mr Navalny and to end the “abuse” against him.
On Monday, the activist announced that he had been sent on December 31 for the tenth time to a disciplinary cell, for a period of 15 days, where his rights are even more limited, on the grounds that he had washed before the regular time.
Mr. Navalny, a pet peeve of Vladimir Putin and opponent of the military offensive in Ukraine, was arrested in Russia in January 2021, on his return to the country after suffering serious poisoning which he attributes to the Kremlin.
In March, he was sentenced to nine years in “severe” prison for charges of “swindle” which he considers fictitious.