MOSCOW, August 24. /TASS/: Russian authorities provided all permissions to transfer blogger Alexey Navalny from Omsk to Berlin very fast, this matter did not require President Vladimir Putin’s intervention, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists Monday.
"No, this is entirely not a president’s prerogative," Peskov said, answering a question whether Putin took part in negotiations or decision-making on Navalny’s transfer to Germany for treatment. According to the spokesman, "it was an entirely medical decision, tied to the patient’s health condition."
"There is no reason for international negotiations; I can only say that, without doubt, in this case, our relevant authorities did everything very fast, very quickly: all permissions concerning flight formalities were provided very fast and without any obstruction, as soon as the medics ruled the patient’s transfer safe," Peskov said.
Commenting on reports about the alleged surveillance over Navalny, Peskov noted that he is unaware how reliable these reports are.
"Citing [anonymous] sources always makes credibility of the information only partial," the spokesman said.
In general, Peskov redirected this question to the intelligence agencies.
"Of course, some tracking measures towards some people cannot and should not be negotiated with any state bodies, let alone the president’s administration. This is a prerogative of intelligence agencies. It is only possible to check the credibility of these reports [about surveillance over Navalny] in those agencies," the spokesman underscored.
On August 20, Navalny’s plane en route from Tomsk to Moscow conducted an emergency landing in Omsk due to the blogger’s rapidly deteriorated medical state. Navalny was hospitalized; he was in coma and plugged to a ventilator. Early on August 22, he was transferred to Germany for treatment.
