US national security adviser Jake Sullivan has warned the Russian government that it will face “consequences” if opposition leader Alexei Navalny dies in prison.
Navalny has been on a hunger strike since March 31 to demand medical attention outside the prison where he is located, the IK-2 colony in Pokrov, 100 km from Moscow.
The biggest critic of Vladimir Putin’s government has lost about 16 kilos since entering prison last January, half in the first months and the rest since the start of his hunger strike, for which his lawyers say they fear for your health.
The US warning comes after prison doctors warned that the opponent could suffer cardiac arrest at any time, according to AFP.
“Our patient can die at any moment,” said cardiologist Yaroslav Ashikhmin, who noted the high levels of potassium found in Navalny’s body.
The prison doctors themselves asked the authorities that the opponent be transferred to intensive care.
Navalny also faces prolonged starvation, extreme fatigue from sleep deprivation and pain from untreated spinal injuries.
“We are seeing a variety of costs of different (measures) that we would take, and I am not going to announce them publicly at this time, but we have communicated that there will be consequences if Navalny dies,” Sullivan told the network. CNN.
Sullivan said the White House had warned the Kremlin that Moscow would be “held accountable by the international community” for what happens to Navalny while in state custody.
He also clarified that the White House had already made its position clear to Russia directly and that “the best way to handle this problem is in private and through direct diplomatic channels at the highest levels of the Russian government.”
The US president himself, Joe Biden, spoke out on the opposition’s situation, pointing out that it was “totally unfair.”
However, the ruler was criticized because in his recent telephone conversation with Putin he made no mention of the Russian government’s treatment of Navalny.
In addition to the US, France and Germany also joined several countries criticizing Russia on Sunday for the insufficient treatment Navalny receives.