As of: February 25, 2024, 7:03 a.m
By: Luke Rogalla
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More than a week after his death, the body of opposition politician Alexei Navalny is said to have been handed over to his mother.
Moscow - More than a week after his death, the body of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who died in custody, has been handed over to his mother, according to his spokeswoman.
“Alexei's body has been handed over to his mother,” said Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Jarmisch on Saturday (February 24) on the online service X, formerly Twitter.
She thanked “everyone who demanded this with us.”
She didn't yet know whether "the authorities will prevent the funeral ceremony from taking place as the family wants and as Alexei deserves," Jarmisch explained.
Alexei Navalny in Moscow in February 2021.
© Uncredited/Moscow City Court/AP/dpa
Alexei Navalny dies in custody
The death of Navalny, who had been imprisoned in Russia for years, was announced on Friday last week.
He died in a penal camp in the Arctic Circle at the age of 47.
Navalny's mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, only gained access to his body on Thursday.
According to Jarmisch, Russian investigators threatened to bury Navalny's body on the grounds of the penal colony where he died if his family did not agree to a secret burial.
The death of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin's most prominent adversary caused international consternation.
In addition to Navalny's widow, numerous Western politicians blame the Russian leadership and Putin personally for his death.
Moscow rejected the allegations.
(dpa)