Alexei Navalny’s team alleged on Friday that Russian authorities are threatening to bury the deceased opposition leader on the grounds of the Arctic prison colony where he died unless his family agrees to a closed funeral.
The most famous critic of President Vladimir Putin died last week after spending more than three years behind bars, prompting outrage and condemnation from Western leaders and his supporters. On Friday, several leading Russian cultural figures called on authorities to release the body to his mother.
“An hour ago, an investigator called Alexei’s mother and gave her an ultimatum,” Navalny’s spokesperson Kira Yarmysh wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “She has three hours to agree to a secret funeral without a public farewell, or Alexei will be buried in the colony.” His mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, “refused to negotiate … because they have no authority to decide how and where to bury her son”, Yarmysh added. She has now filed a lawsuit alleging the “desecration” of his body, said Ivan Zhdanov, an exiled ally of the late leader.
Navalny’s team has said the Kremlin is “scared” of the opposition leader even after his death. They believe the authorities do not want a public funeral as it would represent a show of support for Navalny’s movement against Putin. They previously called Putin a “killer” who was trying to cover his tracks by not allowing independent forensic analysis of Navalny’s body.
After days of being denied access, Navalny’s mother Lyudmila said Thursday she had finally been allowed to see her dead son’s body. But she said the authorities were not willing to give her custody and wanted to bury him secretly. More than 25 filmmakers, artists, Nobel Prize winners and opponents of Putin have so far called for his body to be released, in videos published by his team on social media.
(With agency inputs)
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