The mother of Russian opponent Alexeï Navalny, Lioudmila Navalnaïa, declared on Thursday February 22 that she was able to see the body of her son, who died on Friday in a Russian penal colony. In a short video message broadcast by the opponent's entourage, Ms. Navalnaïa also accuses the Russian authorities of threats against her so that a “secret funeral” of Alexei Navalny can be organized.
“They are blackmailing me, (…) They want everything to be done secretly, without ceremony, they want to take me to the confines of a cemetery, near a fresh grave, and tell me “here lies your son” , I don’t agree with that,” says Lyudmila Navalnaya. “I recorded this video because they started threatening me. Straight in the face, they told me that if I don't agree to a secret burial, they will do something with my son's body. The investigator told me openly: time is against you, the body is decomposing,” she also said.
“Last night, they secretly took me to the morgue [in Salekhard, capital of the district where Mr. Navalny was incarcerated] where they showed me Alexei’s body. Investigators say they know the reason for his death and have all the legal and medical documents in their possession. I have already seen them and I signed the death certificate,” continues Lyoudmila Navalnaïa.
Russian prison authorities announced Friday, in a terse press release, that the famous activist, imprisoned for three years, had died in the penal colony where he was serving a nineteen-year sentence.
The 47-year-old man, whose health had been weakened by poisoning and his imprisonment, would have “felt bad after a walk” and would have “lost consciousness”, they explained, assuring that everything had been done to resuscitate him and that the causes of death were “being established.”
No details have leaked since, and Vladimir Putin has not said a word about the disappearance of this major political personality, a death which occurs one month before the presidential election from March 15 to 17, which is due to see the master of the Kremlin renewed, in the absence of any opposition.
