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Anastassija Wassiljewa: The chairwoman of the Alliance of Doctors from Kremlin opponent Navalny was arrested in front of the prison camp
Photo:
Pavel Golovkin / dpa
Russian doctors have unsuccessfully requested access to the sick Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny who has gone on hunger strike at the Pokrov penal camp.
"Who has to be to deny doctors access to a dying person," said Navalny's doctor Anastassija Wassiljewa in front of the camp around 100 kilometers east of Moscow.
There doctors of the independent alliance of doctors wanted to help the political prisoner.
Navalny is said to have severe back pain with paralysis in the leg, fever and cough.
The human rights organization Amnesty International called on Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin not to let his opponent die.
Police also arrest journalists
The Alliance of Doctors criticized Navalny, who barely survived an assassination attempt with the neurotoxin Novichok in the summer, was not receiving adequate medical help.
According to the union, Vasilyeva and other members were arrested and put in prisoner trucks.
The Moscow CNN correspondent Matthew Chance also posted a photo on Twitter about his temporary arrest.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow announced that journalists had obstructed work in front of the prison camp.
Chance and his team were released after a few hours.
The state propaganda had recently compared the penal camp with a sanatorium, a holiday camp and a hotel.
Navalny, on the other hand, accuses the prison system of using torture methods.
He went on a hunger strike to protest against inadequate medical care.
Russia rejects international calls for the 44-year-old to be released immediately.
mjm / dpa