A spokeswoman for the late Alexei Navalny said on Friday that Russian authorities told his mother he would be buried in the penal colony where he died if he did not agree, within three hours. bury him without a public funeral.

Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent political critic, died suddenly a week ago in an Arctic colony where he had been serving a sentence for a total of more than 30 years.

His mother Lyudmila, 69, asked for several days that the authorities are handing over his body for burial in a way that allows your friends, family, and followers to pay their respects.

Navalny’s press secretary Kira Yarmysh wrote on social network X: “An hour ago, the investigator called Alexei’s mother and gave her an ultimatum. Either he will agree to a secret funeral at three o’clock without a public farewell, or Alexei will be buried in a colony.“.

Yarmash said that Navalny’s mother refused and continued to demand that the body be handed over to her. There was no immediate comment from authorities.

Navalny’s family and supporters accused Putin of his murder, a charge that the Kremlin angrily denied. The political leader survived a poisoning attempt in 2020 and years of abuse in prison, including long periods of solitary confinement.

Putin has made no public comments since his death. The Kremlin said that this had nothing to do with with his death and that the circumstances are being clarified.

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The standoff over the release of his body appears to reflect Kremlin concerns that a large public funeral for Putin’s chief critic will hotbed of unrestjust weeks before elections in which the Kremlin leader wants to remain in power for another six years.

This was reported by the human rights group OVD-Info. 400 people were arrested days after Navalny’s death for attempting to hold public memorials.

Reuters