Dissident Alexei Navalny’s body finally handed over to his mother

The body of Russian dissident leader Alexei Navalny, who died suddenly in prison, has been handed over to his mother, his spokesman announced on Saturday. Kira Yarmish,

The team of the late Russian dissident leader, whose death marked a week yesterday, previously reported that an agent had called Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnayaand gave him one Ultimatum: Either he accepted a secret funeral without public farewell in three hours, or his son would be buried in the same prison where he died.

Announcing the handover of the body today, Yarmysh did not know whether the Russian government would allow Funeralhe wrote on the social network X, formerly Twitter.

Russian authorities do not want a public funeral for Alexei Navalny, but signs of mourning continue despite police pressure. Residents of the Russian capital went to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior honor the memory Navalny’s. At the entrance to the temple, the main one in Moscow, a queue of people formed. Police stopped many people at the exit gate to check their documents.

Several dozen people came to the Smolny Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Inside were two employees of the Frightened Center for the Fight against Extremism, who filmed them with their phones. According to local media, the police checked the documents after leaving the temple.

Human rights unit OVD condemned that 27 people in various Russian cities planting flowers In memory of Alexey Navalny.

Lyudmila Navalnaya, 69, has been demanding for days that authorities release her son’s body to bury it in a way that allows his friends, family and followers to pay their respects.

Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalny, and the opposition team both condemned that it was the government that ordered his killing. The Kremlin has said it had nothing to do with his death and the circumstances are being investigated.

Navalny was jailed in January 2021 on charges he and his entourage considered false upon his return from Germany, where he was recovering from a near-fatal nerve agent poisoning in Russia in 2020. Once jailed, he was charged with new charges and His prison sentence was extended to almost two decades,

In a video recorded before the body was handed over, Navalny’s widow blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom she called a “monster”. “torturing” a corpse Of his political opponent.

In her six-minute video posted on YouTube, Navalnya said she would continue the fight against Putin’s regime, questioned the Russian president’s trust and accused him of holding her husband’s body “hostage.”

Navalny’s allies urged his followers “not to relax” and his spokesman warned that there was no certainty that Russian authorities would treat relatives “the way the family wants and the way Alexei deserves”. Will allow to perform the rites.