- Sen. Bernie Sanders said Putin killed Alexei Navalny in front of the world.
- Navalny’s team warned that his health was deteriorating rapidly to the point where he could die.
- The Putin critic was transferred to another infirmary in the penal colony on Monday.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont did not invent words because he supported the growing calls for Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to receive proper medical treatment.
“Make no mistake about what is happening here: activist Alexei Navalny is being killed in front of the world by Vladimir Putin for the crime of exposing Putin’s great corruption. Navalny’s doctors should be allowed to see him immediately,” Sanders in a tweet on Sunday.
The Russian embassy in Washington, DC, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.
The Vermont senator’s criticism of the Russian president comes after Navalny’s doctor warned that he ‘could die at any moment’. Biden’s government has warned Russia that there will be consequences if Navalny dies.
—USA TODAY (@USATODAY) 19 April 2021
Navalny has been on hunger strike for weeks and is demanding that he receive proper medical care due to complaints of back pain and numbness in one of his legs.
The anti-corruption campaigner was transferred to a prison hospital on Monday in a separate penal colony from where he was detained. According to the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, the condition of Navalny is “satisfactory” according to ABC News.
Meanwhile, Navalny’s allies warned that his health was deteriorating rapidly, urging them to refer to the facility to which he was transferred as a ‘hospital’.
“Please stop writing that Navalny has been transferred to a hospital. This is not a hospital, this is just another penal colony with the same torturous conditions, the same everything, except that there are few formally qualified doctors on site. Maria Pevchikh, an investigator at Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, does not change anything, said in a tweet.
Navalny faced an apparent assassination attempt in August when he was poisoned by nerve agent Novichok, which could have long-term health consequences. Navalny blamed Putin for the incident. Leaders around the world have condemned Putin over the poisoning. The Russian president’s critics have often been killed in violent or mysterious ways.
In September, Navalny was taken to Germany for medical treatment. When he returned to Moscow in January, he was arrested and accused of violating the parole – including while in Germany – due to a suspended sentence of 2014 for fraud. Navalny, who politically motivated all charges against him, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.