Extract from ABC News
German doctors have said medical examinations indicated that Russia opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who is in a Berlin hospital after collapsing on a plane in Russia last week, had been poisoned.
Key points:
- Alexei Navalny collapsed on his plane last week after allegedly drinking poisoned tea
- He is being treated in a German hospital, who are currently protecting him
- Mr Navalny has been a vocal critic of Russian President, Vladimir Putin
Mr Navalny, a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, had been flown to Germany for treatment on Saturday.
The Kremlin said it was unclear what caused Navalny to fall ill and initial tests did not show he was poisoned, as his aides charged.
Berlin's Charite hospital said a team of doctors there had examined him in detail after his arrival.
"The clinical findings indicate poisoning by a substance from the group of active substances called cholinesterase inhibitors," the hospital said in a statement.
The specific substance was not yet known, they said.
The outcome remains uncertain but long-term effects, especially to the nervous system, could not be ruled out, it said.
Cholinesterase inhibitors are drugs that can increase communication between nerve cells in the brain.
They are sometimes used to temporarily improve or stabilise the symptoms of people with dementia.
Common side effects of cholinesterase inhibitors include vomiting, muscle cramps, headache and hallucinations.
Certain chemical classes of pesticides work against bugs by interfering with, or "inhibiting" cholinesterase but they can also be poisonous, or toxic, to humans in some situations.
Mr Navalny is still in an induced coma at the hospital's intensive care unit.
"His health is serious, but there is currently no acute danger to his life," the statement said.
Mr Navalny collapsed on a plane last Thursday after drinking tea while on his way to a campaign rally in Siberia.
The incident could further strain Russia's fraught relations with its European and NATO neighbours, who have accused it of mounting attacks on dissidents in Europe in the past.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel last night called on Russian authorities to conduct a full investigation of the poisoning and to bring those responsible to justice.
"In view of Mr Navalny’s prominent role in the political opposition in Russia, authorities there are now called upon urgently to investigate this crime in detail and in full transparency," she said in a joint statement with Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.
"Those responsible must be identified and held accountable."
Russian doctors say they saved Navalny's life
Russian health officials said Mr Navalny tested negative for cholinesterase inhibitors when he was hospitalised in Omsk.
Mr Navalny showed no signs of having been poisoned when he was admitted to the clinic and tests were carried out on him to check for a wide range of substances, including inhibitors, the health ministry in Omsk said in a statement.
Doctors at the Siberian hospital that first treated Mr Navalny said they had saved his life, but that they had not found traces of poison in his system.
"If we had found some kind of poison that was somehow confirmed then it would have been a lot easier for us," senior doctor Anatoly Kalinichenko said.
"It would have been a clear diagnosis, a clear condition and a well-known course of treatment."
Last week, they said they had diagnosed him with metabolic disease possibly brought on by low blood sugar.
The doctors said they had not come under pressure from authorities.
Kira Yarmysh, Mr Navalny's spokeswoman, said supporters had reported what they described as a suspected poisoning to the Russian police and Investigative Committee as soon as he fell ill.
Mr Navalny has been a thorn in the Kremlin's side for more than a decade, mobilising crowds of young protesters and exposing what he says is high-level graft.
He has been repeatedly detained for organising public meetings and rallies and sued over his investigations into corruption.
He was barred from running in a presidential election in 2018.
Reuters
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