NEW DELHI: The mother of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has filed a lawsuit in the Arctic city of Salekhard, challenging officials’ refusal to release her son’s body, Russia’s state news agency Tass reported on Wednesday.
A closed-door hearing is scheduled for March 4, according to the report, citing court authorities.
In an attempt to retrieve her son’s body, Lyudmila Navalnaya had appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday requesting the release of her son’s body who died at the Arctic prison colony on Friday where he was serving a 19-year-term.
“I’m reaching out to you, Vladimir Putin. The resolution of this matter depends solely on you. Let me finally see my son. I demand that Alexei’s body is released immediately, so that I can bury him like a human being,” she said in a video.
“They are cowardly and meanly hiding his body, refusing to give it to his mother and lying miserably,” she added.
Russian officials have stated that the reason of Navalny’s death is unknown and have refused to release his body for the next two weeks while the preliminary inquiry is ongoing, according to members of Navalny’s team.
Refusing the allegations of any cover-up, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “these are absolutely unfounded, insolent accusations about the head of the Russian state.”
Over 400 people have been held across Russia since Navalny’s death while attempting to pay tribute to him with flowers and candles, according to OVD-Info, a group that tracks political arrests.
According to OVD-Info, more than 60,000 people have asked the authorities to return Navalny’s remains to his relatives.
(With inputs from agencies)
A closed-door hearing is scheduled for March 4, according to the report, citing court authorities.
In an attempt to retrieve her son’s body, Lyudmila Navalnaya had appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday requesting the release of her son’s body who died at the Arctic prison colony on Friday where he was serving a 19-year-term.
“I’m reaching out to you, Vladimir Putin. The resolution of this matter depends solely on you. Let me finally see my son. I demand that Alexei’s body is released immediately, so that I can bury him like a human being,” she said in a video.
“They are cowardly and meanly hiding his body, refusing to give it to his mother and lying miserably,” she added.
Russian officials have stated that the reason of Navalny’s death is unknown and have refused to release his body for the next two weeks while the preliminary inquiry is ongoing, according to members of Navalny’s team.
Refusing the allegations of any cover-up, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “these are absolutely unfounded, insolent accusations about the head of the Russian state.”
Over 400 people have been held across Russia since Navalny’s death while attempting to pay tribute to him with flowers and candles, according to OVD-Info, a group that tracks political arrests.
According to OVD-Info, more than 60,000 people have asked the authorities to return Navalny’s remains to his relatives.
(With inputs from agencies)
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