Rights advocate urges leftist activist Udaltsov to end hunger strike
A member of the Russian Presidential Human Rights Council has visited leftist activist Sergey Udaltsov in detention and asked him to end his hunger strike, which can only damage his health and benefit his political enemies.
According to a message posted on the council’s website on Wednesday, the chairman of the permanent commission for penitentiary system reform, Andrey Babushkin, visited Udaltsov in Moscow Detention Center No2, where he is serving 30-day civil sentence for repeated violations of the Russian law on rallies. Babushkin passed on to the activist the request of the council members “to stop tormenting his own health and not to make any presents to his own opponents and end the hunger strike.”
In comments posted along with the news about the visit, Babushkin said he found Udaltsov in high morale and good psychological condition, and noted that the activist retained a critical assessment of his own state. However, the rights advocate said the activist described his state of health as “tolerable,” but did not get up from his bed for the duration of the visit. He added that Udaltsov gave a positive assessment of the conditions in which he was being detained.
“I have high hopes that my visit would contribute to Sergey putting an end to his hunger strike,” Babushkin wrote.
Sergei Udaltsov is a well-known Russian political activist who holds a senior position in the Leftist Front movement – a loose bloc of about 20 socialist and anarchist groups specializing mostly in protests.
On August 14, the Meshchansky District Court in Moscow sentenced him to 30 days of civil arrest for repeated violation of the Russian law on rallies. On August 16, Udaltsov went on a “dry” hunger strike to protest the sentence, and on the third day he was hospitalized due to serious dehydration. Doctors quickly stabilized his condition with intravenous injections and he was returned to the detention center to complete his sentence.
Like this story? Share it with a friend!
