‘Poisoned’ Putin critic stable in a coma in Berlin
RUSSIAN opposition leader Alexei Navalny was in a coma but ‘stable’ yesterday after being flown to Germany after his suspected poisoning.
The politician, a corruption investigator and one of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critics, is feared to have drunk tea laced with poison
His supporters believe the Kremlin is behind his illness and a delay in letting him go to Germany after he was admitted to intensive care in the Siberian city of Omsk on Thursday.
The 44-year-old was flown to Berlin’s Charite hospital at the weekend. The hospital said it would not comment on his illness until test results were evaluated, only confirming he was still in a coma but ‘stable’.
Mr Navalny became ill on a flight to Moscow from Siberia on Thursday and was taken to hospital after the plane made an emergency landing.
While his supporters and family insist he was poisoned, doctors in Omsk said a metabolic disorder was the most likely diagnosis.
Russian health authorities said tests had not shown poison in his system and initially resisted a transfer to Germany, saying he was too ill to fly.
The dissident’s supporters said this was a ploy to allow the poison to leave his system. An independent Russian news report at the weekend cited sources in security agencies who said Mr Navalny under intense surveillance during his trip to Siberia.
Moskovsky Komsomolets published details of the surveillance of his every movement, including what he and his associates ate, who he met, his credit card records, shopping receipts, where he stayed, what vehicles he travelled in and even a night time swim in a river.