The mother of the late Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny and lawyer Vasily Dubkov upon their arrival to the regional office of the Russian Investigative Committee in the town of Salekhard in the Nenets region (Reuters)
The mother of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to hand over the body of her son, who died 5 days ago in a prison in the Arctic region.
Lyudmila said, "I appeal to you, Vladimir Putin. Solve the issue with your own hands alone. Let me finally see my son. I demand that Alexei's body be handed over immediately so that I can bury him in a humane manner."
For its part, the Kremlin today rejected the accusations of Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the Russian opposition figure, after she said that President Vladimir Putin is responsible for his death.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, "Of course, these are false and crude accusations against the Russian head of state, but since Yulia Navalnaya became a widow a few days ago, I will not comment on the matter."
The Kremlin spokesman also justified the arrest of people who were showing solidarity with Navalny by peacefully laying flowers in front of the monument to victims of Soviet political repression, and said that “the security forces acted according to the law.”
The Kremlin spokesman considered President Putin's promotion of senior officials in the Russian prison services yesterday, Monday, three days after the death of the opposition figure in prison, "routine," and said, "These are normal progress processes."
Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of opposition figure Alexei Navalny, said in a video clip posted yesterday on social media, “Three days ago, Vladimir Putin killed my husband, Alexei Navalny. Putin killed the father of my children, and with that, Putin wanted to kill our hope, our freedom, and our future.”
The Russian opposition figure and main opponent of President Vladimir Putin died last Friday at the age of 47 in the Arctic Circle prison in the Yamal region, where he was serving a 19-year prison sentence on charges of "extremism."
The Russian authorities have so far refused to hand over Navalny's body to his family, even though his supporters believe that the Russian regime is seeking to cover up a crime, accusations that the Kremlin also rejected.
Navalny's death sparked a widespread wave of condemnation in the West, and Putin was accused of being behind it. The Kremlin spokesman confirmed that Putin was "informed" of Navalny's death, but he did not comment on it.
Source: Agencies