2015-05-30 12:15:00

Kremlin critic near death after alleged poisoning


(Vatican Radio) An outspoken opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly near death amid fears he has been poisoned, just three months after his close political ally was gunned down near the Kremlin. The wife of Vladimir Kara-Murza has appealed for him to be send abroad for treatment, but Russian authorities reportedly refuse to let him go.  

Click below to listen to correspondent Stefan Bos’ report:

His family and doctors have confirmed that Kara-Murza was hospitalized Tuesday in a serious condition. Diagnoses have varied, with doctors now saying he is suffering kidney failure. No cause for the condition has officially been determined.  Yet after the poisoning of defector Alexander Litvinenko and the mysterious deaths of other Russian opposition figures, friends and family members worry that Kara-Murza could have been poisoned.  And privately, "Doctors have just confirmed that he was poisoned," Andrei Bystrov, an opposition activist and friend of the Kara-Murza family, told reporters. "As to what with, they can't say yet. It could be anything.

FRIEND OF NEMTSOV

The 33-year-old Kara-Murza, who has long been based in Washington, was in a hotel in Moscow when he apparently suddenly lost consciousness. His wife Evgenia issued a statement saying he had "symptoms of poisoning". She appealed for him to be taken to Europe or Israel for treatment.  However his father and the head doctor of the hospital have told Russian media he won't be sent abroad. Kara-Murza, a dual Russian-British citizen, was a close associate of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated in Moscow near the walls of the Kremlin in February. 

OPEN RUSSIA OFFICIAL 

He is also a coordinator for Open Russia, a nongovernmental organization. Just a day before his hospitalization,  Kara-Murza's group released a critical documentary film accusing the ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov of human rights abuses including torture and murder. Kara-Murza's father is a journalist with the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Russian Service. Concerns over his health come amid Western allegations over an alleged Kremlin crackdown on political dissent. The United States has expressed concern, with its ambassador in Moscow, John Tefft, calling for "the best medical care". Republican New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith added in published remarks "I am deeply concerned about the mysterious illness of Vladimir Kara-Murza, especially given the recent murder of Boris Nemtsov and the number of Putin's opponents who have been poisoned.”

 








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