According to authorities, opposition activist Alexei Navalny died on February 16. Image: SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire / Artem Priakhin
policy
02/24/2024, 2:27 pm
It has been more than a week since news broke of the death of Russian opposition politician and Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. Her mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, had to wait days until, according to her own statements, she only had access to her son's body last Thursday. There was a bitter battle between Navalny's family and authorities over the deceased's body and his burial. On Saturday, the good news from Navalny's spokesperson on X: Russian authorities handed over the body of the Russian opposition figure to his mother.
This was preceded by days of dispute: the authorities did not want to release the body for burial. Instead, Lyudmila Navalnaya reported that she must agree to a secret funeral. Otherwise, Navalny will be buried in the penal colony, his spokeswoman said on X (formerly Twitter).
Alexej Navalny with his daughter Darja in 2019. Image: imago images / ITAR-TASS
Alongside Lyudmila Navalnaya are also Navalny's wife, Yulia Navalnaya, and Navalny's daughter, Darja. They vehemently demanded that the body be returned for a decent burial.
Navalny's daughter Darja addresses Putin on X
Darya Navalnaya made an urgent appeal to X. “Give grandma my father’s body,” she wrote there on Saturday.
Widow Yulia Navalnaya, however, accused President Vladimir Putin of Satanism. Putin, who describes himself as a devout Christian, mocks the dead man's remains and demonstrates “open Satanism”, Yulia Navalnaya said in a video message published on Saturday. “Hand over Alexei. They tortured him alive and continue to torture him to death,” she said. “They break all human and divine laws.”
She accused Putin of continuing to torture Alexei's mother and trying to break her.
Authorities do not want to release Navalny's body for burial
Lyudimila Navalnaya said in a video on Thursday that Putin's authorities wanted to force her to attend a secret funeral for her son. They threatened to do something with the corpse. “They are setting conditions on where, when and how I should bury Alexei. This is against the law,” she said.
As spokeswoman Kira Jarmysch reports, Navalnaya insisted that the law be complied with. Investigators are then required to turn over the body within two days of determining the cause of death, in this case on Saturday.
Navalny's mother insists “that authorities allow the funeral and memorial service to take place in accordance with usual practices.”
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There is much uncertainty regarding the cause of death. According to Navalny's team, the death certificate mentions “natural” causes. His widow Yulia Navalnaya and Navalny's mother are convinced that the Kremlin was involved in the death.
(With dpa material)
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