Kremlin has given Alexei Navalny’s mother an ultimatum to bury him

first Amendment: 02/23/2024 – 23:33

4 minutes

Even after a week of Alexei Navalny’s death, the fight over his body continues. The Russian Investigative Committee (CIR) on Friday, February 23, gave the Russian opposition leader’s mother Lyudmila Navalnaya an ultimatum to accept a secret funeral. According to Navalnaya, Russian authorities aimed to avoid demonstrations in favor of the dead politician.

In a video published on Thursday, February 22, Lyudmila Navalnaya accused authorities of pressuring and threatening her into accepting a secret funeral. He said, “They want the funeral to be held in secret, without farewells. They want to take me to the edge of the cemetery, to a fresh grave, and tell me: Here is your son. I don’t agree with that. “

Addressing his son’s supporters, he said, “I want you, who cared about Alexei and for whom his death was a personal tragedy, to have the opportunity to say goodbye to him.”

“One of the members of the investigation called Alexey’s mother and gave her an ultimatum. Either he will accept a secret funeral without a public farewell in three hours, or Alexei will be buried in prison,” Kira Yarmysh, a spokesperson for the political dissident, revealed on Platform X.

Yarmysh also said that Navalny’s mother, who was able to see the body after waiting six days, rejected the Russian authorities’ offer, which is why she continues to demand that her son’s body be returned to her. Be handed over. “He has refused to negotiate with the investigative committee,” the communicator said. There was no comment from Russian officials.

“The demand is to comply with the law, according to which investigators are obliged to hand over the body two days after establishing the cause of death. According to the signed documents, that deadline expires tomorrow,” the spokesperson said.

Upon receiving an ultimatum from the authorities, Navalny’s entourage filed another lawsuit in court for “insulting the body of the deceased.”

Officials will try to avoid public demonstrations against the state

Alexei Navalny died last Friday, February 16, at the age of 47 in the IK-3 prison colony in Jarp, Arctic Circle, where he had been serving a prison sentence for more than thirty years. His mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, has since claimed her son’s body, but Russian authorities have rejected her claim.

From the beginning, Alexei Navalny’s entourage has sought to give him a public funeral so that friends, family and supporters can pay final tribute to the Russian rival. However, the Kremlin denies this possibility, which is why he has been accused of wanting to avoid the opportunity to organize demonstrations against the state, accusing him of being responsible for the death of a political opponent. .

Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, who was welcomed by US President Joe Biden in San Francisco, directly accused Vladimir Putin of ordering the assassination of his main political rival. The death of Alexei Navalny also raised many questions in the international community about the degree of involvement of the Russian authorities.

For its part, the Kremlin rejected the allegations and assured that it was investigating the death of the political dissident.

It should be remembered that Alexei Navalny survived a poisoning attempt in 2020 and years of harsh treatment in prison, including prolonged isolation.

A section of society is mobilizing to request the delivery of Navalny’s body

The fight over Alexei Navalny’s body is resonating widely in Russian civil society. Thousands of people, including political opponents, artists, intellectuals and journalists, have signed petitions demanding the handover of Navalny’s body.

Evgenia Kara-Murza, wife of political rival Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is serving a 25-year sentence in Siberia, said, “If you still have any trace of humanity left in you, stop making fun of his mother and her son. Return his body to him.” Many charges including treason.

Journalist Dmitry Muratov, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021, also joined the call for the return of Alexei Navalny’s body by publishing on the platform

According to the human rights organization OVD-Info, 400 people were detained for trying to pay tribute to Navalny in public places in the days following his death.

With EFE and Reuters