Poisoned’ Russian Opposition Leader Navalny Rushed To Berlin Hospital

By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News

(Worthy News) – Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has been airlifted from Russia to a hospital in Berlin for suspected poisoning.

Accompanied by a massive police escort, an ambulance carrying the 44-year-old Navalny rushed to the German capital’s prestigious Charite hospital. Two years ago, the same facility successfully treated another Russian dissident who was allegedly poisoned by Russian agents.

Navalny arrived here following a safe landing at Berlin’s Tegel airport early on Saturday morning local time. Navalny’s medical evacuation from the Russian city of Omsk in southwestern Siberia was reportedly organized by the German Non-Governmental Organization ‘Cinema for Peace.’

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was among those who pushed for a speedy transfer for Navalny to Germany after he became suddenly ill on Thursday.

Government spokesperson Steffen Seibert said Chancellor Merkel was “appalled” by the suspected poisoning of Russian opposition leader Navalny. “She has also explained that we if desired, will naturally allocate all possible medical help in German hospitals. In case it is desired. For that, we have already made the respective preparations.”

TEA POISONING?

Navalny fell ill in what his supporters view as a suspected poisoning of his tea during a flight from Tomsk to Moscow on Thursday morning.
The plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Omsk, where Navalny was then rushed to a hospital.

He has since been kept in a coma, attached to a ventilator. The medical team that was treating him in Omsk had insisted that the opposition leader was too ill to be transported. However, they later said his condition was stable enough to get through a flight.

Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, accused Russian doctors of deliberately delaying his departure. “We believe that the doctors are deliberately delaying so that the chemical substance in my husband Alexei’s metabolism has time to disappear,” she told reporters.

“That’s why they don’t let him leave the hospital. Alexei’s health situation is probably very bad, so we don’t believe the doctors in this hospital, and we demand that they hand my husband over.”

EU WORRIED

The Kremlin has denied he was poisoned.

But the European Union has expressed concern. And the EU’s Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Nabila Massrali, said the 27-nation bloc demands an active investigation into the alleged poisoning. “We are very worried about Alexei Navalny’s health following his suspected poisoning yesterday,” she stressed.
“We wish him a swift and full recovery. We expect a swift, independent, transparent investigation, Massrali said.

“And if confirmed, those responsible must be held to account,” the spokesperson added in a statement.

The latest incident was due to raise new questions as several perceived or known opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin have been poisoned in recent years.

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