Navalny's mother asks Putin to return her son's body

The mother of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Lyudmila, has recorded a video appeal to the president of Russia, demanding her son's body be returned so that she could bury him.

Source: Navalny LIVE Youtube channel; Ivan Zhdanov, director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF) and Navalny's associate, on Telegram

Quote from Lyudmila Navalnaya: "Behind my back is the correctional facility No. 3 Polyarnyi Volk (Polar Wolf), where my son Alexei Navalny died on 16 February. For the fifth day, I cannot see him; they refuse to return his body to me, and they don't even tell me where he is. I appeal to you, Vladimir Putin; the resolution of this matter depends solely on you. Allow me, finally, to see my son. I demand an immediate release of Alexei's body so that I can bury him humanely."

Details: Ivan Zhdanov said Navalny's mother had written an official appeal to the Russian president. Zhdanov also added that they have filed a lawsuit in the Salekhard court regarding the inaction of the Investigative Committee in releasing Navalny's body.

Background:

• On the afternoon of 16 February, Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service reported the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny at Correctional Facility No. 3 in Kharp, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, in northwestern Siberia.
• Alexei Navalny had been imprisoned since early 2021. The Moscow City Court sentenced him to 19 years in prison in a special-regime colony for "extremism" in August 2023.
• In December, the opposition leader was transferred to Correctional Facility No. 3, known as Polyarnyi Volk (Polar Wolf), which is located in Kharp in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Siberia.
• Yulia Navalnaya accused President Vladimir Putin of murder, vowed to carry on her husband's struggle, and called on the public to fight against Vladimir Putin.
• On the morning of 19 February, Ludmila Navalnaya arrived at the morgue in the town of Salekhard where the body of her son, opposition politician Alexei Navalny, was allegedly kept. Still, neither she nor her lawyers were allowed in.

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