Russian authorities return Alexei Navalny’s body to mother — more than a week after he died
Russian authorities returned Alexei Navalny’s body to his mother, Saturday, more than a week after he died in an Arctic penal colony, a rep for the vocal Kremlin critic said.
A funeral is “pending,” but it is unclear whether Russian authorities will prevent the ceremony from taking place “as the family wants and as Alexey deserves,” said Nalvany spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh.
Earlier Saturday, Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnya, ripped a “demonic” Putin in a six-minute video for holding her husband’s corpse “hostage” and demanded the return of his body.
The Russian leader was “torturing” Navalny in death, just as he did when the Kremlin critic was alive, she said in the clip, and seethed that Putin was preventing the family from holding a proper burial.
“You are mocking the remains of the deceased,” she stated.
Navalny’s body was taken to the Salekhard after he died nearby in the harsh Arctic penal colony IK-3 in remote Kharp, about 1,200 miles northeast of Moscow, Russian officials said.
On Friday, Navalany’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnya, said Russian authorities had refused to release her son’s corpse unless she agreed to bury him without holding a public funeral.
An official warned her to act fast and accept their conditions because his body was already beginning to decompose, she said.
If the family refused the authorities’ offer, the opposition leader’s body would be buried in the penal colony, aides to the longtime Kremlin critic said.
Yarmysh did not mention on Saturday whether a public ceremony would occur.
Navalny, 47, died last week of “sudden death syndrome,” a vague term usually involving heart-related issues that cause a person’s death, authorities said, but his family and supporters have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin and his associates of murdering the activist lawyer.
Kremlin investigators earlier this week insisted Navalny’s body couldn’t be released for two weeks while they wrapped up a “chemical examination,” but Yarmysh said the claim was “a blatant lie” and an attempt to cover up any evidence of a murder.
Yulia Navalnya, also has accused Putin and Russian authorities of murdering her late husband by poisoning him with Novichok nerve agent.
With Post wires.
