Russian investigators have told Alexei Navalny’s mother that his body will not be returned to the family for another 14 days. The former spokesperson of the opponent, Kira Yarmysh, wrote this on X, according to which the reason is that the body must be subjected to “chemical tests”.
Previously, collaborators of Navalny, the opponent of Vladimir Putin who died in a prison in the far north of Russia, had informed that the authorities denied the dissident’s family access to his body for the third consecutive day. The Kremlin he replies that he has no expertise on the issue and also rejects what he defines as ‘coarse declarations’ by Western countries. The dissident’s widow emphasizes that she will continue her husband’s work.
“Alexei’s mother and his lawyers arrived at the morgue early this morning. They were not allowed to enter. One of the lawyers was literally pushed out. When the staff was asked if Alexei’s body was there, they did not responded,” Yarmysh announced on social media, adding that the Russian authorities’ investigation into Navalny’s death “has been extended”, according to what investigators told the mother of the dissident who died last Friday. “It is unknown how long this will go on. The cause of death is still ‘undetermined’. They lie, take time and don’t even hide it,” Kira Yarmysh wrote on X.
The Kremlin, for its part, has made it known that the investigation is still ongoing and for the moment there are no results. In this regard, he called “crude” statements by Western countries about Navalny’s death inadmissible until the results of the investigation are made public. The spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said this, quoted by Russian agencies. “In conditions in which there is no information, it is absolutely unacceptable to make, let’s say, frankly crude statements,” Peskov said, according to Tass. “This is not appropriate for government officials, from whose lips we heard such phrases. And these phrases, of course, cannot cause any harm to the head of our state, but they absolutely do not give a good image of those who make such statements,” Putin’s spokesperson further stated.
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The opponent’s widow: ‘I will continue Alexei’s work’
In a video posted today on social media, Yulia Navalnaya, Alexei Navalny’s widow, announced that she will continue “Alexei’s work”. “I will continue to fight for our country. And I invite you to stand by me”, says Yulia. And she accused Russian President Putin of killing her husband.
Video Yulia: ‘We will find out how Alexei was killed’
In her video message, Alexei Navalny’s widow indirectly stated that her husband was killed with Novichok. “They lie meanly and hide his body waiting for the traces of yet another Putin’s Novichok to vanish,” she added. “We will certainly find out who exactly and in what precise way carried out the crime, we will name the names and show the faces,” Yulia Navalnaya then promised.
Hungary’s silence: ‘Sanctions against Moscow are only a cosmetic solution’
“The European Union, suffering from war psychosis, only intends to obey Washington, the liberal media and NGOs by launching yet another package of sanctions” against Russia “certainly completely useless, which only serves as a cosmetic solution” in coinciding with the second anniversary of the war in Ukraine. The Hungarian Foreign Minister, Péter Szijjártó, present at the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, wrote this on Facebook. Budapest has so far blocked the approval of the thirteenth EU sanctions package. Silence on Navalny’s death, on which there was no reaction from Orban’s government.
Berlin summons the Russian ambassador
The German Foreign Ministry announced that it had summoned the Russian ambassador today regarding the death of Alexei Navalny and the repression of protests by political opponents in Russia. The spokesperson of the German Foreign Ministry announced this today in Berlin during the government press conference.
“The politically motivated proceedings against Alexei Navalny and many other critics of the Russian government” demonstrate the “brutality with which the Russian justice system acts against those who think differently and the means used by President Putin to suppress freedom of expression in Russia”, said the spokeswoman for the German Foreign Ministry. “We condemn all this in the strongest terms and expressly call for the release of all people imprisoned in Russia for political reasons,” she added. The German government also called on Russia to investigate the circumstances of Navalny’s death and release his body to his family, as government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit stressed.
Latvia and Lithuania formally protest the death of the dissident
The Foreign Ministries of Latvia and Lithuania today summoned the chargés d’affaires of the embassies of the Russian Federation in Riga and Vilnius to express their protest over the death of Alexei Navalny.
During the meeting, representatives of the foreign ministries of the two Baltic countries underlined the need to clarify the circumstances of Navalny’s death and expressed the hope that those responsible for the death of the Russian opponent will be brought to justice.
The Foreign Ministry in Vilnius also called for the immediate release of all the people arrested in Russia in recent days for having publicly paid tribute to Navalny.
Borrell (EU): ‘Sanctions against those responsible for Navalny’s death’
“Member States will certainly propose sanctions against those responsible” for Navalny’s death. “Putin himself is responsible, but we can go down to the institutional structure of the prison system in Russia.” EU High Representative Josep Borrell said this on the sidelines of the Foreign Affairs Council underway in Brussels. “But – he pointed out – let’s not forget who is really responsible for Navalny’s death”.
“We must send a message of support to the Russian opposition,” said Borrell, who announced that he will propose that the European Union’s human rights sanctions regime be named after Navalny, “so that his name will be remembered forever.”
For her part, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that the adoption of the thirteenth package of sanctions against Russia is underway, which will also take into account the consequences of the death of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny. “We are in the final stages, we hope to complete it soon” she added, specifying that the sanctioning measures will also concern drones. “The Russian president – he added – is acting against freedom, the freedom of Ukraine, but also against the freedom of his own country. Alexei Navalny had to pay with his life for this brutality against freedom in Russia. Our thoughts are not I am alone with his family, with the many, many brave people around Alexei Navalny who are fighting for freedom in Russia, but we will also be here today with Yulia Navalnaya here in Brussels, because the spirit of freedom can never be undermined remain silent forever.”
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