Aleksei Navalny’s household and shut associates have confirmed the Russian opposition politician’s demise in an Arctic jail and have demanded his physique be handed over, however officers have refused to launch it, telling his attorneys and mom that an ”investigation” of the causes would solely be accomplished subsequent week.
”Aleksei’s lawyer and his mom have arrived on the morgue in Salekhard,” Navalny spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh wrote on X, referring to the capital of the area of Yamalo-Nenets, the place Navalny’s jail is positioned.
”It is closed. Nevertheless, the [prison] has assured them it is working and Navalny’s physique is there. The lawyer referred to as the cellphone quantity which was on the door. He was instructed he was the seventh caller immediately. Aleksei’s physique is just not within the morgue,” she added.
Yarmysh then mentioned in a brand new message: ”An hour in the past, the attorneys had been instructed that the examine was accomplished and no crime had been discovered. They actually lie each time, drive in circles and canopy their tracks.”
However in a 3rd message, she mentioned, ”Now the Investigative Committee instantly says that till the examine is accomplished, Aleksei’s physique won’t be given to kinfolk.”
Navalny affiliate Ivan Zhdanov, who at the moment resides overseas, mentioned that Navalny’s mom was instructed her son had died of a cardiac-arrest sickness.
”When the lawyer and Aleksei’s mom arrived on the colony this morning, they had been instructed that the reason for Navalny’s demise was sudden demise syndrome,” Zhdanov mentioned.
Navalny’s mom, Lyudmila, who traveled to the Yamalo-Nenets area some 1,900 kilometers northeast of Moscow, was earlier knowledgeable that the Kremlin critic died on the ”Arctic Wolf” jail on February 16 at 2:17 p.m. native time, in accordance with Yarmish.
Vadim Prokhorov, a lawyer who has represented Russian human rights activists, instructed Present Time that ”what is going on is just not unintended.”
”The Russian authorities will do every thing to not flip over the physique in time or definitely to not conduct a forensic medical examination,” Prokhorov instructed Present Time, the Russian-language community led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.
The penitentiary service mentioned in an announcement on February 16 that Navalny felt unwell after a stroll and subsequently misplaced consciousness. An ambulance arrived to attempt to revive him however he died, the assertion added.
Navalny, a longtime anti-corruption fighter and Russia’s most-prominent opposition politician for over a decade, was 47.
His demise sparked a right away outpouring of grief amongst many Russians, whereas leaders around the globe condenmed the demise of Vladimir Putin’s staunchest critic, blaming the Russian president instantly for the demise.
Group of Seven (G7) overseas ministers assembly in Munich on the sidelines of a safety convention held a minute’s silence for Navalny on February 17. The G7 consists of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the USA.
In a joint assertion launched by Italy, the ministers expressed their ”outrage on the demise in detention of Aleksei Navalny, unjustly sentenced for professional political actions and his battle in opposition to corruption.”
Italian International Minister Antonio Tajani mentioned that ”for his concepts and his battle for freedom and in opposition to corruption in Russia, Navalny was in reality led to his demise.”
”Russia should make clear his demise and cease the unacceptable repression of political dissent,” he added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy mentioned the demise of Navalny confirmed that it’s not possible to see Putin as a professional chief.
”Putin kills whoever he needs, be it an opposition chief or anybody who looks as if a goal to him,” Zelenskiy instructed the Munich Safety Convention on February 17.
Yale historical past professor Timothy Snyder, an knowledgeable on Central and Jap Europe, instructed RFE/RL in Munich that Navalny will likely be remembered as somebody who sacrificed his life for his nation.
”Putin needs to be remembered as a ruler of Russia. However Navalny will likely be remembered another way as a result of Navalny died for his nation reasonably than for killing different individuals.”
”He tried to point out that different issues are attainable [in Russia] and we’ll by no means know what sort of chief he would have been,” he added.
Navalny’s imaginative and prescient for change in Russia will likely be stored alive by his crew, his spokeswoman Yarmysh mentioned. ”We misplaced our chief, however we did not lose our concepts and our beliefs,” Yarmysh instructed Reuters by way of Zoom, talking from an undisclosed location.
Navalny’s demise was a ”very unhappy day” for Russia, and should result in worldwide motion, the spouse of a former Russian agent killed by radiation poisoning mentioned on February 17.
Marina Litvinenko, whose husband Aleksandr died of radiation poisoning in 2006, three weeks after consuming tea laced with polonium at a gathering with Russian brokers at a London lodge, instructed AFP she had sympathy for Navalny’s spouse, Yulia.
The Kremlin, which Navalny mentioned was behind a poison assault that just about killed him in 2020, has angrily denied it performed any position in Navalny’s demise and rejected the ”completely rabid” response of Western leaders.
Inside Russia, individuals continued to mourn the demise of the anti-corruption crusader regardless of official media paying little consideration to his demise and efforts to take away any tributes to him.
A minimum of 340 individuals have been detained in 30 cities and cities in Russia on February 16 and 17 after they got here to pay tribute, embody laying flowers, to the reminiscence of Navalny, in accordance with OVD-Data, a bunch that screens political repression in Russia.
On February 17, police blocked entry to a memorial within the Siberian metropolis of Novosibirsk and detained a number of individuals there in addition to in one other Siberian metropolis, Surgut, OVD-Data mentioned.
In Moscow, individuals got here to put flowers on the ”Wall of Sorrow” memorial on the avenue named after Soviet physicist and dissent Andrei Sakharov on February 17. Riot police instantly moved in and greater than 15 individuals had been arrested, the Sota information outlet reported.
In St. Petersburg, an Orthodox priest was detained on February 17 after he introduced he would maintain a memorial service for Navalny.
Grigory Mikhnov-Vaitenko was detained close to his residence as he was going to the Solovetsky Stone memorial devoted to Soviet victims of political repression.
He was remanded in custody and was to be introduced to a choose on February 19, the location 24liveblog.com reported.
Nevertheless, a memorial service was carried out by a distinct Orthodox priest on the web site, within the presence of a number of individuals, a few of whom had been detained after the service was accomplished.