Authorities bar Alexei Navalny's mother from mortuary, protests break across Russia for release of body
In a concerning development, authorities have barred Alexei Navalny's mother Lyudmila Navalnaya from the mortuary, citing an unfinished probe, raising questions about transparency and accountability.
FollowRussian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was declared dead on Friday in the Arctic prison cell. Alexei Navalny's mother quickly made her way to the remote side of the country to receive her son's body. However, the authorities have been refusing to hand over the remains, raising further suspicion.
Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, with lawyers on Monday, reached the Polar Wolf IK-3 penal colony where the Russian leader was held since last year. The authorities cited that the body was held due to examination. Anyone who dies in a prison is first taken to the Bureau of Forensic Medicine on Glazkova Street but this didn't happen in Navalny’s case.
Alexei Navalny’s remains, according to the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta Europe, were taken to a clinical hospital. The body of the 47-year-old was kept for further observation and examination raising suspicion of a possible cover-up. The newspaper also quoted a paramedic revealing signs of bruises on the head and chest of Navalny.
The longer the authorities have kept the remains of Alexei Navalny, the more protests have broken across urban areas of Russia. Moscow witnessed a tense atmosphere as many mourned the death of their leader by placing flowers at public monuments.
At least 90 people in Moscow and St Petersburg were arrested for demanding the release of the remains of Alexei Navalny. While 20 were sentenced in Moscow by a local court. Alexei Navalny's wife Yulia Navalnaya attacked Russian President Vladimir Putin in a video address and held him responsible for the death of her husband.
She said, “I call on you to stand alongside me...I also ask you to share the fury and hate for those who dared to kill our future. I speak to you in the words of Alexei, in which I believe truly. There is no shame in doing little.”
