Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed with a punch to the heart, a technique by former KGB special forces agents, after being exposed to freezing conditions for several hours.
The Times writes this quoting Vladimir Osechkin, founder of the human rights group Gulagu.net.
According to Osechkin, who cited a source working in the Arctic penal colony where Navalny died on Friday, the bruises found on the opponent's body are compatible with the "single punch" technique.
Before his death, Navalny, 47, had been forced to spend more than two and a half hours in an outdoor isolation space where the temperature could drop to -27 degrees, Osechkin said.
As a rule, prisoners are not kept outdoors for more than an hour.
A court in Russia's far north will hear next month a complaint filed by Navalny's mother, who is prevented from seeing her son's body, his collaborators said.
Lyudmila Navalnaya traveled to the remote IK-3 prison where her son died, but since Saturday, when she arrived, she has been barred from seeing his body.
According to the Tass news agency, the court has received a complaint for "unlawful acts" and the hearing will take place behind closed doors.
The court in the Arctic city of Salekhard will hear the case on March 4, officials said.
The head of Navalny's anti-corruption foundation, Ivan Zhdanov, announced yesterday that Lyudmila Navalnaya had filed the complaint accusing the Russian Investigative Committee of inaction in handing over the dissident's body.
Navalny was Putin's main political opponent and died on February 16 in a prison in the Arctic where he was locked up for political reasons and after having reported being the victim of serious abuse behind bars for three years.
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