The loss of life of Russian opposition chief Alexey Navalny has been confirmed by his crew, along with his spokesperson saying the Kremlin critic “was murdered”.
Navalny died at 2:17pm (09:17 GMT) on February 16, in line with the discover given to his mom, spokesperson Kira Yarmysh wrote on X on Saturday within the first affirmation from his allies.
Yarmysh cited an worker of the “Polar Wolf” Arctic penal colony the place the 47-year-old was serving a 19-year sentence as saying his physique was picked up by investigators from Russia’s Investigative Committee and was now within the city of Salekhard.
“We demand that Alexey Navalny’s body be handed over to his family immediately,” she mentioned.
Alexey Navalny was murdered. His loss of life occurred on February 16 at 2:17 p.m. native time, in line with the official message to Alexey’s mom.
An worker of the colony mentioned that the physique of Navalny is now in Salekhard. It was picked up by investigators from the IC. Now they’re…
— Кира Ярмыш (@Kira_Yarmysh) February 17, 2024
The city is close to the jail advanced the place the investigators have been conducting “research”, Yarmysh mentioned.
In a subsequent replace, Yarmysh mentioned Navalny’s lawyer had been knowledgeable that the reason for loss of life had not but been decided.
A second examination of Navalny’s physique has been made and the outcomes, “allegedly”, can be out there subsequent week, Yarmysh posted on X. “It’s obvious that they are lying and doing everything they can to avoid handing over the body.”
Ivan Zhdanov, the director of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, wrote on X that Navalny’s mom had been instructed by jail officers that her son had perished because of “sudden death syndrome” when she arrived at his former penal colony Saturday with certainly one of Navalny’s legal professionals.
The lawyer and Navalny’s mom, Lyudmila Navalnaya, went to the native morgue in Salekhard on Saturday, but it surely was closed and Navalny’s physique was not the place jail authorities mentioned it was being saved, his spokesperson added.
Alexey’s lawyer and his mom have arrived on the Salekhard morgue. It’s closed, nevertheless, the colony has assured them it is working and Navalny’s physique is there. The lawyer known as the telephone quantity which was on the door. He was instructed he was the seventh caller right this moment. Alexey’s physique is… pic.twitter.com/CsPbONUBrn
— Кира Ярмыш (@Kira_Yarmysh) February 17, 2024
In an replace, Yarmysh mentioned that the authorities won’t hand over Navalny’s physique to his family members till the investigation is accomplished.
She subsequently added: “Only an hour in the past, the legal professionals have been knowledgeable that the investigation had been concluded and that one thing felony had not been established.
“They literally lie every time, driving us around in circles and covering their tracks,” she wrote.
Russian authorities mentioned on Friday that Navalny fell unconscious and died after a stroll within the penal colony in Kharp, about 1,900km (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow.
His loss of life – lower than a month earlier than an election that can give Putin one other six years in energy – has eliminated Putin of his biggest political foe who organised mass anti-Kremlin protests and crusaded towards corruption.
‘His legacy won’t die’
Yarmysh mentioned in an interview that Navalny’s imaginative and prescient for change in Russia can be saved alive by his crew.
“We lost our leader, but we didn’t lose our ideas and our beliefs”, Yarmysh instructed Reuters through Zoom, talking from an undisclosed location.
Yarmysh, who had labored with Navalny for over a decade, mentioned he represented hope that Russia can be “a proper democratic country with fair elections, with an independent court, with free press… peaceful and wealthy country”.
“Of course everyone is devastated,” she mentioned. “Alexey was a person who resembled all these ideas and who was fighting for them. So, I’m sure that his legacy won’t die with him, and people will return to these ideas.”
She mentioned the crew holds Putin liable for what she known as Navalny’s homicide.
She didn’t present proof for this however pointed to an incident in 2020 when Navalny survived what Western docs mentioned was a nerve agent poisoning try on his life.
Putin denied on the time that the Russian state had tried to kill Navalny, saying it will have “finished the job” if it had actually wished to remove him.
“We knew that there was a risk, Alexey knew it as well. And yesterday they murdered him as they planned to do it three years ago”, Yarmysh mentioned.
She known as on Western leaders to “put as much pressure on (Putin) as possible”, to hunt justice in response to Navalny’s loss of life and to not negotiate with Putin.
Russian police detained greater than 170 folks throughout the nation at memorials and rallies on Friday and Saturday that have been held to honour Navalny, in line with the OVD-Info protest monitoring group, which mentioned 99 folks have been taken into custody in Saint Petersburg alone.
Strict anti-dissident legal guidelines ban protests in Russia, and pro-Navalny rallies have been significantly hit by authorities previously.
World leaders have condemned the loss of life of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fierce critic.
United States President Joe Biden has mentioned “Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death” whereas European Council President Charles Michel has mentioned the European Union “holds the Russian regime for sole responsible for this tragic death”.
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