Allies of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny unveiled plans on Sunday, April 18, for what they hope will be the largest protests in modern Russian history on Wednesday as Washington warned Russia it would pay a price if he died in jail from his hunger-strike.
European Union foreign ministers are expected to discuss the Navalny case on Monday, and Josep Borrell, the bloc's top diplomat, pledged to hold Moscow to account over the matter too. The authorities have broken up pro-Navalny protests by force in the past, detaining thousands, and Wednesday's planned demonstration falls on the same day as President Vladimir Putin gives a state-of-the-nation speech.
Navalny has said prison authorities are threatening to put him in a straitjacket to force-feed him unless he accepts food. Some activists have called for him to be flown out of the country for emergency medical care. The authorities cast Navalny and his supporters as US-backed subversives bent on destabilizing Russia and moves are under way to declare them extremists, opening the door to long jail terms.
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