Russian officials have informed the mother of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny that his body will not be released to the family until a thorough investigation into his death, attributed to “sudden death syndrome,” is conducted.
Navalny, who was serving a lengthy sentence for charges of extremism, passed away at the age of 47 in an Arctic penal colony, where he had been recently transferred from another prison. His mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, received an official death notice during her visit to the prison, which indicated the time of death as 2:17 p.m. local time on Friday.
Reports indicate that Russian intelligence agency investigators retrieved Navalny’s body and transported it to Salekhard, a town approximately 30 miles south of Kharp, where the prison is situated. However, upon visiting the morgue over the weekend, Navalny’s family and legal representatives found it closed, and inquiries about Navalny’s body yielded no definitive answers.
Navalny’s spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, expressed frustration over the lack of access to Navalny’s body and demanded immediate action from Russian authorities to release it to his family.
The circumstances surrounding Navalny’s death have sparked international criticism, with many world leaders holding Moscow accountable and directly implicating Russian President Vladimir Putin, although the Kremlin denies any involvement.
