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Alexei Navalny was a staunch critic of Vladimir Putin (File)
Moscow:
The physique of late Russian opposition chief Alexei Navalny has been handed to his mom, greater than per week after he died in an Arctic jail colony, his spokesperson mentioned on Saturday.
Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critic, died on February 16 in one among Russia’s hardest prisons in northern Siberia, the place he was serving a 19-year sentence on expenses extensively seen as political retribution for his opposition.
“Alexei’s physique was handed over to his mom. Many due to all those that demanded this with us,” Navalny spokesperson Kira Yarmysh mentioned on X, previously generally known as Twitter.
Alexey’s physique was handed over to his mom. Many due to all those that demanded this with us.
Lyudmila Ivanovna continues to be in Salekhard. The funeral continues to be pending. We have no idea if the authorities will intrude to hold it out because the household needs and as Alexey deserves. We…
— Кира Ярмыш (@Kira_Yarmysh) February 24, 2024
For the previous week, Russian authorities had refused to offer Lyudmila Navalnaya custody of her son’s physique, after she travelled to the city of Salekhard within the Yamalo-Nenets area, the closest settlement to the jail colony the place Navalny died.
Navalny’s group on Friday mentioned that they had filed a lawsuit to acquire the physique, alleging that native investigators had threatened to bury him on the jail grounds if his mom didn’t conform to a “secret” funeral.
Yarmysh mentioned plans for the funeral have been nonetheless unclear.
“Lyudmila Ivanovna continues to be in Salekhard. The funeral continues to be pending. We have no idea if the authorities will intrude to hold it out because the household needs and as Alexei deserves,” she mentioned.
His group mentioned beforehand the Kremlin was making an attempt to dam a public funeral, which may flip right into a present of help for Navalny’s motion and his opposition to Putin.
The Russian chief, who famously by no means mentioned Navalny’s title in public, has not commented on the dying of his most vocal critic.
His spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has criticised statements by Navalny’s spouse and Western leaders that blamed Putin for his dying as “vulgar”.
‘Satanism’
Russian authorities mentioned Navalny died of “pure causes” after he misplaced consciousness following a stroll within the jail colony, nicknamed “Polar Wolf”.
However his group mentioned investigators have been holding on to his physique, refusing for days to let his mom even see it — prompting accusations the state have been “killers” making an attempt to “cowl their tracks”.
Tens of 1000’s of Russians signed a petition calling for Navalny’s physique to be launched whereas dozens of high-profile Russian cultural figures revealed video messages urging the identical.
Earlier on Saturday, Yulia Navalnaya had accused Putin of “satanism” for not permitting her husband’s physique to be returned.
“You tortured him alive, now you torture him whereas he’s useless,” Yulia Navalnaya, who has vowed to proceed her husband’s work, mentioned in a video, revealed Saturday.
“What Putin is doing now’s hatred. No, not even hatred, it is some sort of satanism,” she added.
His dying, which got here after three years of being held in Russian prisons, triggered uproar among the many nation’s opposition and Western leaders.
On Saturday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau added his voice to these pointing the finger on the Kremlin as he appeared to say the Russian chief was behind Navalny’s dying.
“Putin pretends to be highly effective, however really highly effective leaders don’t assassinate their opponents,” Trudeau mentioned at a press convention in Kyiv, marking two years because the Russian invasion.
Russian police have arrested a whole bunch of mourners at makeshift memorials to Navalny over the past week.
The opposition chief had shot to prominence via his anti-corruption campaigning, exposing the alleged ill-gotten features of Putin and his entourage in slick YouTube movies that racked up hundreds of thousands of views.
He was arrested in January 2021 when he returned to Russia after being handled in Germany for a poisoning assault he suffered whereas campaigning in opposition to Putin in Siberia months earlier.
From jail he continued to marketing campaign in opposition to corruption inside Russia, however was pressured to look at on helplessly as Putin invaded Ukraine, dismantled his organisation, imprisoned his allies and compelled others into exile.
(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
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