Putin critic Navalny’s mother says she has finally been shown his body

Putin critic Navalny’s mother says she has finally been shown his body

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The mother of Alexei Navalny has claimed she was threatened by Russian officials after being shown his body – almost a week after his death in an Arctic prison.

Lyudmila Navalnaya, 69, said that officials told her that if she doesn’t agree to a secret funeral, they will “do something” to her son’s body.

In an allegation posted on YouTube, she accused Russian investigators of “blackmailing” her to hold a service with for Putin’ s most prominent critic with no mourners present.

“They want this to be done secretly, with no farewell. They want to bring me to the edge of a cemetery, to a fresh grave and say: here lies your son. I don’t agree to this,” she said.

Lyudmila Navalnaya accused Russian officials of ‘blackmailing her’

(via REUTERS)

Western leaders have lined up to accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin of killing Navalny, who had been jailed in a remote Siberian penal colony.

The opposition leader’s team said on X on Thursday that the Navalny’s death certificate says he died of natural causes, while they accuse the Russian state of murdering him.

The Kremlin has angrily rejected these claims, describing accusations that he was poisoned by the nerve agent novichok as “absolutely unsubstantiated”.

Ms Navalnaya had travelled to the remote IK-3 prison after her son’s death was announced last Friday, but had been prevented from seeing his body.

On Tuesday, she appealed to Putin directly in a video, saying: “Let me finally see my son. I demand that Alexei’s body be released immediately so that I can bury him in a humane way.”

The following day, a court in Russia’s far north agreed to hear her case on 4 March, more than two weeks after his death.

Navalny’s widow Yulia Navalnaya had also called for authorities allow for her husband to be “buried with dignity”, and vowed to name those involved in his death.

In a nine-minute video, the 47-year-old said that he had been killed because Putin couldn’t “break him” and vowed to continue his political activism.

“I want to live in a free Russia, I want to build a free Russia,” she said. “I urge you to stand next to me. I ask you to share the rage with me. Rage, anger, hatred towards those who dared to kill our future.”

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