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Ludmilla Navalnaya, mother of the dead Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, was apparently supposed to agree to a funeral without a public farewell.
Update from February 29th, 5:31 p.m.: The Kremlin’s threats have fizzled out: Despite the cause of death still being unclear, Alexei Navalny’s funeral is now scheduled to take place on Friday (March 1) at a cemetery in Moscow. A day earlier, the Kremlin critic’s team called for active participation. But coming could be dangerous for the mourners. It is not unlikely that security forces will crack down.
Update from February 23rd, 6:25 p.m.: Russian investigators are said to have threatened the family of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to bury his body in the penal colony where he died. This is what the news agency reports AFP citing his team. “An hour ago, the investigators called Alexei’s mother and gave her an ultimatum,” wrote Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysch on Friday on the online service X (formerly Twitter).
Navalny’s family had three hours to agree to a secret funeral without a public farewell, Yarmysch explained. Navalny’s mother Lyudmila Navalnaya refuses to negotiate with the investigative committee. The authority would not have the right to “decide when and how her son will be buried.”
Navalnaya accuses Russian authorities of blackmail
First report from February 22nd: Moscow – The mother of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian prison camp, has been given access to his body after days of waiting. Lyudmila Navalnaya said in a video on Thursday (February 22) that she saw her son’s body in the morgue but was not handed over to it. The 47-year-old died in the prison camp on Friday last week. Since then, the mother had been looking for the body in the Arctic Circle region. In the video, she again demanded that the body be handed over to her so that she could bury it.
Navalnaya accused the power apparatus of blackmailing her and wanting to secretly bury her son. “They set conditions as to where, when and how I should bury Alexei. This is against the law,” she said. The investigators threatened to do something with Navalny’s body, if she didn’t agree to a secret burial. That’s why she turned to the public because relatives, but also supporters, should have the opportunity to say goodbye to Navalny.
The mother of Kremlin opponent Navalny, who died in custody, Lyudmila Navalnaya. © Uncredited/Navalny Team/AP/dpa
Navalny dead: mother feels blackmailed by Russian authorities
Navalny’s mother also said that she had been informed of the completion of the medical examination, including the cause of death. But she didn’t name them. Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Jarmysch wrote on the online platform X (formerly Twitter) shortly after the mother’s video was published that medical expertise had allegedly determined a natural death. In contrast, Navalny’s wife Yulia, his team and human rights activists accuse Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin of having the opposition figure, who barely survived a poison attack in 2020, murdered.
Navalny’s mother said she spent 24 hours alone with investigators and the detective. On Wednesday evening she was admitted to the morgue in the city of Salekhard in northern Russia. Lyudmila Navalnaya did not comment on the condition of her son’s body.
According to authorities, Navalny died on February 16 under unclear circumstances in the penal camp with the unofficial name “Arctic Wolf” in the Siberian Arctic region of Yamal. The politician, weakened by the poison attack and repeated solitary confinement in the camp, is said to have collapsed during a tour of the icy prison yard and died despite attempts to resuscitate him. (dpa)
2024-03-01 04:54:35
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