February 22, 2024, 16:30 GMT
Updated 9 minutes ago
Alexei Navalny's mother said she had been shown his body, but added that Russian authorities were pressuring her to allow a “secret” funeral.
In a video address, Lyudmila Navalnaya said she was taken to a morgue on Wednesday evening.
She said she signed a death certificate. Allies of the former opposition leader said he died of natural causes.
Navalny's widow said he was killed by Russian authorities.
Lyudmila Navalnaya said the law required authorities to hand over her son's body, but she was “blackmailed” because they refused to do so. She alleged that authorities set conditions for her son's burial, including the location, time and manner of his burial.
She said, “They want to take me to the edge of the cemetery to a fresh grave and say, 'Here lies your son.'”
Ms. Navalnaya, who traveled to the city of Salekhard after news of her son's death in a nearby penal colony, also said she had been threatened by authorities.
“They look me in the eyes and say if I don’t agree to a secret burial they will do something with my son’s body.”
“Investigator Voropaev told me frankly: 'Time is not on your side, the body is rotting.'”
She spoke in a video posted on her late son's YouTube channel and ended the speech by calling for his body to be returned to her.
Navalny died on February 16 in a prison colony.
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