Meanwhile, Navalny’s supporters say his medical condition is deteriorating rapidly. His press secretary said Navalny was “dying” and his doctors said medical tests showed he is at an increasing risk of kidney failure and heart problems.
If approved, the move by prosecutors could have serious consequences for Navalny’s team in Russia. Under Russian law, “extremist” organizations could be banned and liquidated, and activists who continue to work with them could potentially face jail terms of up to 10 years.
“Under the guise of liberal slogans, these organizations are involved in creating conditions for the destabilization of the social and socio-political situation,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement Friday.
The statement added that the goal of the opposition organizations is to encourage “color revolutions,” a reference to popular uprisings in former Soviet republics that Russia says are supported by Western governments.
The actual goals of their activities are to create conditions for changing the foundations of the constitutional system, including the use of the ‘color revolution’ scenario.
Navalny continues his hunger strike
They say the latest medical tests have shown him to be at a growing risk of kidney failure and heart problems.
CNN cannot independently verify Navalny’s health status.
In the letter shared on Twitter by a key Navalny ally and head of a prominent opposition doctors’ union, Anastasia Vasilyeva, said Navalny’s doctors are deeply concerned about his current health condition.
“We urge negotiations and urgent medical consultation with Medical Unit No. 33 HCPs to discuss the diagnostic tests performed and the treatment to be prescribed, and to bring the patient out of a critical condition that is threatening. a fatal outcome, “said a copy of the letter shared by Vasilyeva.” We ask to be admitted to the examination of our patient, who has been under observation for many years. “
Earlier this week, in a statement to CNN, FSIN told CNN that from April 5-9, Navalny was being treated in a medical unit in Penal Colony No. 2 in Pokrov, where he is detained. The statement said Navalny was being returned to prison as a result of an “improvement” in his health.
Navalny said in a post on his official Instagram account on Friday that he is under threat of force-feeding as he continues with a hunger strike. Navalny said on Friday that the results of his blood test show his health is deteriorating.
He has two hernias and is losing feeling in both hands, one of his lawyers, Olga Mikhailova, said in an interview with Russian media last week.
He is on a hunger strike in protest at prison officials who refuse to give him access to quality medical care. The Kremlin said this week it would not give him any special treatment.
CNN has filed a request with the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) for a statement on Navalny’s health.
When President Joe Biden left Wilmington Country Club in Delaware on Saturday, he was asked about Alexei Navalny’s condition in prison. He told reporters it is “totally, totally unfair, totally inappropriate”.
Press secretary calls on supporters to gather
Despite being imprisoned, Navalny has continued its work against corruption and organized protest rallies in support of the opposition figure.
Kyra Yarmysh, Navalny’s press secretary and assistant, asks Navalny’s supporters to join a rally that was meant to call for his freedom but is now “a condition of his life.”
Yarmysh said that “Alexey is now dying. In his condition it is a matter of days. And on the weekend lawyers just cannot reach him, and no one knows what will happen Monday.”
Yarmysh is under house arrest and has no access to electronic devices. Her team said they published the post on her behalf. They said Yarmysh is still in contact with her attorneys and can pass on some information and statements for publication.
There is no announced date for the rally. His team said they will announce a date for the meeting when they reach 500,000 signatures.
FBK released a much-watched study in January into what they believe is a palace owned by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Black Sea, estimated to be worth more than $ 1 billion. Putin has denied that the palace belongs to him or his relatives and close associates.
Russia has labeled other groups as ‘extremist’
In 2017, Russia’s Supreme Court banned Jehovah’s Witnesses as an “ extremist organization. ” Other groups classified as ‘extremist’ include extreme right-wing and Islamist organizations.
Navalny’s organizations have previously faced pressure from Russian authorities who were subject to raids and searches, and in 2019 the Russian Ministry of Justice designated FBK as a “foreign agents” group.
“We know how to operate in conditions of constant searches and frozen accounts, in conditions of administrative arrests and criminal cases. We have been building our political organization for a decade, learning to survive under unimaginable pressure, to change, to be effective and to be effective. the most impossible situations, ”Ivan Zhdanov, FBK director, and Leonid Volkov, Navalny chief of staff, said in a joint statement on Friday.
“It is clear that the Kremlin’s new attack is related to the upcoming meeting and the elections in September. So it is clear what the answer should be: hold a meeting (maybe this will be the last meeting in the coming years) and win elections (perhaps these will be the last elections in the coming years), ”the statement continued.