Prominent Russian Activist Hospitalized After More Than 1,000 Arrested in Protest Alexei Navalny’s spokeswoman says he suffered an allergic reaction, but speculation swirled online that he had been poisoned By Ann M. Simmons
https://www.wsj.com/articles/prominent-russian-activist-hospitalized-after-more-than-1-000-arrested-in-protest-11564326555
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was transferred Sunday to a hospital from jail, where he was being held for calling for unauthorized protests the day before that led to a police crackdown and the detention of more than a thousand protesters.
Mr. Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh, tweeted that the staunch Kremlin critic had suffered “acute allergic reaction, severe swelling of the face and redness of the skin,” and was receiving the necessary medical assistance, under police guard.
Ms. Yarmysh said the cause of the allergic reaction was unclear, but “for all his life, Alexei had never experienced an allergic reaction before.”
Speculation swirled on social media over whether Mr. Navalny, who last Wednesday was jailed for 30 days, might have been poisoned.
The situation drew comparisons to activist Pyotr Verzilov, who fell ill last September after attending proceedings against a fellow member of the Pussy Riot protest group. Mr. Verzilov was subsequently flown to Germany where doctors treating him said he had likely been poisoned.
Officials at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and officials at the hospital in Moscow where Mr. Navalny is being treated couldn’t immediately be reached to comment. There was no evidence that Mr. Navalny’s illness was anything other than an allergic reaction.
Leonid Volkov, one Mr. Navalny’s top lieutenants, tweeted that he had firsthand knowledge about unsanitary conditions at the jail.
Mr. Navalny had urged demonstrators to protest against the Moscow electoral commission’s decision to bar opposition candidates it says failed to collect enough signatures to be placed on the Sept. 8 city council ballot—a claim opposition leaders deny.
Police cracked down with force on Saturday’s seven-hour protest, which closed shops and ground traffic to a halt on key thoroughfares in Moscow. Authorities said 1,074 people were detained. OVD-Info, a Russian organization that monitors political detentions, put the tally of those detained at 1,373.
Moscow police said proceedings had been completed for all those detained for various offenses, including disturbing public order. Authorities found that more than half of the offenders weren’t residents of Moscow, the state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
Human-rights activists criticized the police use of force as excessive and unwarranted.
Amnesty International said in a statement that “Russian authorities…hit a new low by imposing military law-like security measures on the unsanctioned rally, blocking access to major Moscow streets and shutting down businesses in advance of the demonstration despite the absence of credible reports of potential violence.”
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow said the detentions undermined Russians’ rights.
“Detention of over 1000 peaceful protestors in #Russia and use of disproportionate police force undermine rights of citizens to participate in the democratic process,” U.S. Embassy representative Andrea Kalan tweeted.
“Free elections & peaceful assembly are guaranteed in the [Russian] constitution and Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” Ms. Kalan said.
Gaining seats on the 45-member Moscow city council, which is currently controlled by the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, would be a significant victory for the opposition, which hopes to cement its strong support in the capital, home to more than 12.5 million people. It could also embolden opposition members in other cities, analysts have said.
Opposition candidates have held other demonstrations to protest their exclusion from the coming council race, including an authorized rally last weekend that drew an estimated 20,000 people.
The official state news agency RIA Novosti, citing Moscow police officials, estimated the number of people participating in Saturday’s demonstration at 3,500, among them 700 members of the media and bloggers who were covering the protest.
Unofficial estimates, including aerial visuals of the crowds streamed on a live website at a studio associated with Mr. Navalny, suggested a possibly higher tally.
Opposition leaders have called another rally for Aug. 3. “Orderly, peaceful, massive. August 3, for the right to choose!” tweeted Lyubov Sobol, one of the opposition leaders excluded from running in the Sept. 8 vote.
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