Pussy Riot’s Peter Verzilov loses sight, speech, mobility after possible poisoning

[News]

Two members of Pussy Riot, Peter Verzilov and Veronika Nikulshina, were arrested in Moscow last weekend while protesting. Now, after a court hearing, Verzilov has lost his sight, speech, and mobility following a suspected poisoning.

In an interview with local publication Meduza, Nikulshina said Verzilov began to feel unwell after a court session on Tuesday, and his symptoms worsened rapidly. “When the paramedics arrived, he answered all their questions, saying, ‘No, I didn’t eat anything. No, I didn’t take anything.’ He was getting worse even faster, and then he started convulsing,” she recounted. “On the way [to the hospital], in the ambulance, he was already babbling. […] He fell into such a half-asleep, half-unconscious state that he stopped responding to me and didn’t even recognize me anymore.”

Verzilov was eventually taken to the toxicology wing of Moscow’s Bakhrushin City Clinical Hospital, but the staff there refused to diagnose him with poisoning. “The doctor only said that his condition was serious, but his behavior was improving and he’d started responding to his own name,” Nikulshina said.

Prior to his court hearing and hospitalization, Verzilov was active on Twitter, repeatedly criticizing police authorities for his and Nikulshina’s alleged mistreatment while in detainment. Among other things, he complained of lack of food and long detainment periods.

Адвокат: Прошу суд учитывать, что Никульшина уже двое суток находится в отделе полиции и срок ее задержания уже превысил 48 часов.

— Пётр Верзилов (@gruppa_voina) September 11, 2018

!! Только что выяснили -сотрудники ОВД Басманный не передали девушкам половину продуктов, которые им приносили в течение двух суток – а всем передававшим говорили, что все строго передано. Забирали себе ягоды, кофе, булки.

Не только в Петербурге менты едят еду у задержанных!

— Пётр Верзилов (@gruppa_voina) September 11, 2018

Нежная деталь про поедание еды задержанных в ОВД Басманный.

Вчера завтрак не передали вообще, но долго уверяли адвоката, что девушки все получили.

Сегодня пакет с завтраком девушки заметили в дежурной части и спросили не им ли это. «Наверное вам» – нехотя ответили сотрудники.

— Пётр Верзилов (@gruppa_voina) September 11, 2018

Pussy Riot previously took the globe by storm by launching an on-field protest at the World Cup in July.

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