According to Ivan Melnikov, it happened on December 1.
"Vinnik, after eating prison food, beans and fish, felt symptoms of severe poisoning, including dehydration," the human rights activist said.
The RT interlocutor stressed that Vinnik was not provided with the necessary medical care in the pre-trial detention center, but after the intervention of lawyers, "they gave him a couple of pills."
"The cause of the poisoning has not yet been established, Vinnik is not feeling well," Melnikov said.
He recalled that the Russian suffers from a number of chronic diseases. At the same time, there is no "serious medical unit" in the prison where he is kept, and there is no one to give Vinnik medicines: lawyers in New York, his mother and other relatives in Russia.
The vice president of the Russian branch of the International Committee for the Protection of Human Rights recalled that in accordance with American law, Vinnik should not be kept in a pre-trial detention center for more than 10 months, but they have been kept for a year and a half.
"Taking into account his state of health, as well as the fact that he is accused of an economic crime, he should be transferred from the pre-trial detention center to house arrest," Ivan Melnikov believes.
Alexander Vinnik was arrested in Greece in the summer of 2017 at the request of the United States. U.S. authorities accused him of laundering money through a cryptocurrency exchange.
Two years later, the Russian was extradited to Paris, where he was found guilty in December 2020 and sentenced to five years in prison.
Requests for Vinnik's extradition were also submitted by the United States and Russia.
As RT previously reported, the trial against Vinnik in the United States is scheduled for September 30, 2024