Meanwhile, Navalny’s supporters say his medical condition is deteriorating rapidly. His press secretary said Navalny was “dying,” and his doctors said medical tests showed he had an increased risk of kidney failure and heart problems.
If approved, the move of prosecutors could have serious consequences for Navalny’s team in Russia. Under Russian law, “extremist” organizations could be banned and liquidated, and activists who continue to work with them could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.
“Under the guise of liberal slogans, these organizations are committed to creating the conditions for destabilizing the social and socio-political situation,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Friday.
The statement added that the objectives of opposition organizations are to encourage “color revolutions”, a reference to the popular uprisings in the former Soviet republics, which Russia considers to be supported by Western governments.
“The real objectives of their activities are to create conditions for changing the foundations of the constitutional system, including the use of the ‘color revolution’ scenario. ”
Navalny continues his hunger strike
It is said that the latest medical tests have shown that there is an increased risk of kidney failure and heart problems.
CNN is not able to independently check Navalny’s health.
The letter sent on Twitter by a key ally of Navalny and the head of a major opposition doctors’ union, Anastasia Vasilyeva, said Navalny doctors have serious concerns about his current health.
“We urgently request negotiations and an urgent medical council with the medical workers of the Medical Unit no. 33 to discuss the diagnostic tests performed and the treatment to be prescribed, as well as to get the patient out of a critical condition that threatens a fatal outcome, “said a copy of the letter shared by Vasilyeva.” We ask to be admitted to examination of our patient, which has been observed for many years. “
Earlier this week, FSIN told CNN in a statement that Navalny was treated on April 5-9 in a medical unit in penal colony no. 2 of Pokrov, where it is closed. The statement said Navalny was transferred back to his prison team due to an “improvement” in his health.
Navalny said in a post on his official Instagram account on Friday that he is threatened with forced feeding while continuing a hunger strike. Navalny said Friday that the results of his blood tests show that his health is deteriorating.
He was diagnosed with two hernias and loses his feeling in both hands, said one of his lawyers, Olga Mihailova, in an interview with the Russian press last week.
He is on hunger strike to protest against prison officials who refuse to give him access to adequate medical care. The Kremlin said this week it would not offer him special treatment.
CNN has filed a petition with the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) for a statement on Navalny’s health.
As President Joe Biden left the Wilmington Country Club in Delaware on Saturday, he was asked about Alexei Navalny’s condition in prison. He told reporters it was “totally, completely unfair, totally inappropriate.”
The press secretary urges supporters to gather
Despite the fact that Navalny was imprisoned, his team continued its activity against corruption and organizing protest rallies in support of the opposition figure.
Kyra Yarmysh, Navalny’s press secretary and assistant, is asking Navalny’s supporters to join a rally that was supposed to demand his freedom, but now it is “a condition for his life.”
Yarmysh said that “now Alexey is dying. In his condition, it’s a matter of days. And on weekends, lawyers just can’t get to him and no one knows what will happen on Monday.”
Yarmysh is under house arrest and has no access to electronic devices. Her team said it published the post on her behalf. They said Yarmysh is still communicating with her lawyers and may submit more information and statements to be published.
There is no announced rally date. His team said it would announce a rally date when it reached 500,000 signatures.
In January, FBK launched a widely-investigated investigation into what it claims to be a palace owned by Russian President Vladimir Putin near the Black Sea, valued at more than $ 1 billion. Putin denied that the palace belonged to him or his family members and close helpers.
Russia has designated other “extremist” groups
In 2017, Russia’s Supreme Court banned Jehovah’s Witnesses as an “extremist organization.” Other groups that have been described as “extremist” include far-right and Islamist organizations.
Navalny’s organizations faced pressure before the Russian authorities were raided and searched, and in 2019, Russia’s Ministry of Justice appointed FBK a “foreign agent” group.
“We know how to work in conditions of constant searches and frozen accounts, in conditions of administrative arrests and criminal cases. We have been building our political organization for ten years, we have learned to survive under unimaginable pressures, to change, to be efficient and to win in the most impossible situations, “Ivan Zhdanov, director of FBK, and Leonid said in a joint statement on Friday. Volkov, chief of staff for Navalny.
“It’s clear that the Kremlin’s new attack is linked to the next rally and the September elections. So it’s clear what the answer should be: hold a rally (maybe this is the last rally in the next few years) and win elections (maybe these are the last elections in the coming years) “, the statement continued.