Navalny’s life not in danger, says Russia’s human rights commissioner

Leading Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who has fallen ill in detention, is not in danger of losing his life, according to Russia’s Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova.

Moskalkova said this on Tuesday.

“The medical documents I have been made aware of, contain conclusions that there is no danger to the life of Navalny,” she said on Tuesday, according to the Interfax news agency.

The 44-year-old would now be monitored on a daily basis during the period after the end of his hunger strike, she added.

Highly qualified doctors from various specialties have examined him several times outside the prison, she said.

The results were trustworthy, Moskalkova added.

Navalny’s staff had recently repeatedly communicated that the vocal opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his regime could die any day in the prison camp.

The politician ended his three-week hunger strike in the prison camp last week on medical advice.

In doing so, he wanted to obtain treatment for his back condition and paralysis symptoms in his limbs.

Navalny further demanded that he be treated by independent specialists for his health problems.

During a phone call with Putin on Monday, France’s head of state Emmanuel Macron had expressed concern about Navalny’s health.

Russia has repeatedly rejected demands from the EU and the U.S. for Navalny’s release.

The dissident was arrested in January after his return from Germany, where he had recovered from an assassination attempt with the nerve agent Novichok.

He was sentenced to several years in a penal camp for allegedly failing while he was being treated in Germany to fulfill parole conditions in an earlier criminal case.

Navalny has repeatedly criticised the criminal proceedings against him as politically motivated – with the aim of silencing the opposition in Russia.