Eko Hot Blog reports that the body of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has finally been released to his mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, after authorities refused to give her custody for over a week following his death in prison on February 16th.
“Alexei’s body was handed over to his mother. Many thanks to all those who demanded this with us,” said Kira Yarmysh, Navalny’s spokesperson, on Saturday.
Navalnaya had travelled to the remote Yamalo-Nenets region to claim her son’s body after he died while serving a 19-year sentence in one of Russia’s toughest prisons. But for days, authorities blocked the release of the body to the family.
“For the past week, Russian authorities had refused to give Lyudmila Navalnaya custody of her son’s body, after she travelled to the town of Salekhard,” said Yarmysh.
On Friday, Navalny’s team filed a lawsuit to obtain the body, alleging that “local investigators had threatened to bury him on the prison grounds if his mother did not agree to a ‘secret’ funeral.”
Plans for a public funeral remain unclear. “We do not know if the authorities will interfere to carry it out as the family wants and as Alexei deserves,” Yarmysh added.
Navalny’s supporters believe the Kremlin aims to prevent a public funeral from becoming a show of defiance against President Vladimir Putin, who has never publicly said Navalny’s name. Putin has not commented on the death of his most prominent critic.
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