The body of Alexei Navalny, a staunch Putin critic and Russian opposition leader who died in prison, has yet to be handed over to his family. Navalny’s spokesman Kira Yarmish claimed that Navalny’s death was not natural but that he was murdered and that the leader’s body is not being handed over to his family to hide the evidence of the murder.
Yarmish told the BBC that they believe Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Navalny to be killed.
He also said, “We know for sure that this is not a natural death, it is a murder. They are now trying to destroy the evidence of the murder. That is why they are not handing over the dead body to the family and this is why they are hiding the dead body from the family. However, according to Russian law, if a prisoner dies, his body must be handed over to his relatives within two days.”
On Friday night (February 16), a staunch critic of Russian President Putin, Navalny, died in prison, the country’s prison authorities announced.
It should be noted that Navalny was sentenced to 19 years in prison in August last year on charges of inciting extremism, financing and establishing an extremist organization. He was wearing that outfit. The charges brought against him are widely believed to be politically motivated.
In addition, Navalny was taken to the Arctic Penal Colony in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region of Russia at the end of last year. The prison is considered one of the harshest in Russia.
Meanwhile, the news of Navalny’s death caused confusion from the beginning. Jail authorities did not say anything about the cause of death of the leader. Just said, he went out for a walk on Friday. After walking he felt sick and fainted. Doctors were immediately called and after several attempts, Navalny never regained consciousness. Later doctors declared him dead.
On the other hand, Navalny’s team confirmed the news of his death, saying that in the documents sent from the prison to Navalny’s mother Ludmila, Navalny died at 14:17 local time on Friday, February 16.
Navalny’s body was also said to have been taken from the prison where he is being held to a morgue in the nearby town of Salekhard for examination. Navalny’s mother and his lawyer went to Salekhard’s morgue to receive the body. But it was closed.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Navalny’s wife, Yulia, expressed skepticism over the news of her husband’s death, saying, “We cannot trust Putin and his government. They always lie.”
In a post on social media X, Navalny’s spokesman Yarmish wrote that they were both told with ‘certainty’ that Navalny’s body was there.
A minute’s silence was observed in tribute to Navalny at the G-7 foreign ministers’ meeting at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Saturday (February 17).
