Merkel calls on Russia to probe Navalny's case after German doctors indicate poisoning

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on the Russian authorities to probe the suspected poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny after doctors in Berlin found indications of toxic substance in his body. The Charité hospital said in a statement on August 24 that there is clinical evidence suggesting an “intoxication through a substance belonging to the group of cholinesterase inhibitors.”

“In view of Mr Navalny’s major role in Russia’s political opposition, the country’s authorities are urgently called upon to fully investigate this act as a matter of urgency – and to do so in a completely transparent way,” said Merkel and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas in a joint statement.

The duo emphasised that the perpetrators must be identified and brought to justice, and expressed hope that Navalny can make a full recovery. However, the Russian doctors, who treated Navalny in the city of Omsk in Siberia, have maintained that they found no traces of poison in the blood of anti-corruption campaigner.

Navalny’s press secretary Kira Yarmysh said that the first doctor who looked at Navalny in an ambulance, while going to the hospital from the airport in Omsk, had concluded it as a case of “toxic poisoning”. She accused the head doctor of the Omsk hospital of fooling everyone in the subsequent days.

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'Poison attack'

The founder of the NGO, which sent an air ambulance to Siberia, told a German tabloid that Navalny will survive the health scare after falling critically ill due to suspected poisoning. Jaka Bizilj, founder of the Cinema for Peace Foundation, said that though the Russian opposition leader will survive the “poison attack”, he won’t be able to get to political work for months, highlighting the "worrying overall situation."

Navalny has been jailed several times over various charges including embezzlement and calling for unauthorised protests, which the Russian leader has denounced as politically motivated. He strongly criticised the sweeping constitutional reforms introduced by Putin, giving himself an option to stay in power beyond term limits.

Read: Russian Doctors Find 'no Traces Of Poison' In Putin Critic Alexei Navalny's Blood

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