NEW DELHI: Lyudmila Navalnaya, the mother of dead Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, on Tuesday, urged President Vladimir Putin to release the body of her son for a formal burial.
Navalny, 47, who was serving his three-decade sentence in the prison was taking a walk during which he fell unconscious and died.
Standing in front of the prison, Navalny’s mother dressed in all black, expressed her frustration.She lamented not knowing the whereabouts of her son’s remains and urged Putin to issue the order for its release.
“For a fifth day I cannot see him, they aren’t giving me his body and don’t even tell me where he is,” Navalnaya said in the message which was broadcast live on the Navalny YouTube channel.
“I appeal to you, Vladimir Putin. Resolving this issue depends on you alone. Let me finally see my son. I demand that Alexei’s body be released immediately so that I can bury him humanely.”
An official letter raising same demands was also sent by her to the President.
Navalny’s associates have referred to a Russian investigator who stated that authorities require a minimum of 14 days to perform various chemical tests on his body, hence delaying the release of his corpse.
The West and Navalny’s supporters assert that Putin bears responsibility for Navalny’s demise. The Kremlin, however, has denied any involvement and deemed Western allegations of Putin’s responsibility as unacceptable.
Putin, so far, has not made any public remarks on Navalny’s death, intensifying the already substantial divide in relations between Moscow and the West, exacerbated by the nearly two-year Ukraine war.
Navalny, 47, who was serving his three-decade sentence in the prison was taking a walk during which he fell unconscious and died.
Standing in front of the prison, Navalny’s mother dressed in all black, expressed her frustration.She lamented not knowing the whereabouts of her son’s remains and urged Putin to issue the order for its release.
“For a fifth day I cannot see him, they aren’t giving me his body and don’t even tell me where he is,” Navalnaya said in the message which was broadcast live on the Navalny YouTube channel.
“I appeal to you, Vladimir Putin. Resolving this issue depends on you alone. Let me finally see my son. I demand that Alexei’s body be released immediately so that I can bury him humanely.”
An official letter raising same demands was also sent by her to the President.
Navalny’s associates have referred to a Russian investigator who stated that authorities require a minimum of 14 days to perform various chemical tests on his body, hence delaying the release of his corpse.
The West and Navalny’s supporters assert that Putin bears responsibility for Navalny’s demise. The Kremlin, however, has denied any involvement and deemed Western allegations of Putin’s responsibility as unacceptable.
Putin, so far, has not made any public remarks on Navalny’s death, intensifying the already substantial divide in relations between Moscow and the West, exacerbated by the nearly two-year Ukraine war.