Alexei Navalny: Putin critic’s mother says she has been shown his body

Alexei Navalny’s mother has said she has been shown his body, but that the Russian authorities are pressuring her to allow a “secret” burial.

In a video address, Lyudmila Navalnaya said she had been brought to a morgue where she signed a death certificate.

The former opposition leader’s press secretary said a medical report presented to Ms Navalnaya stated he died of natural causes.

Navalny’s widow has said he was killed by Russian authorities.

Lyudmila Navalnaya said the law required officials to hand over her son’s body, but that she was being “blackmailed” as they refused to do so. She alleged authorities were setting conditions for the burial of her son, including the place, time and manner of his burial.

She said: “They want to take me to the outskirts of the cemetery to a fresh grave and say: ‘Here lies your son.'”

Ms Navalnaya travelled to the northern Russian town of Salekhard following the news of her son’s death in a nearby penal colony six days ago.

She has previously been denied access to her son’s body, on Tuesday appealing personally to Russian President Vladimir Putin to allow her to bury him.

In Thursday’s address, Lyudmila Navalnaya said she was being threatened by the authorities.

“Looking into my eyes, they say that if I do not agree to a secret funeral, they will do something with my son’s body.”

She said she was told by investigators: “Time is not on your side, the corpse is decomposing.”

Lyudmila Navalnaya was speaking in a video posted to her late son’s YouTube channel, and finished the address by demanding his body be returned to her.

There was no immediate response from Russian authorities.

Separately, on Thursday US President Joe Biden met Mr Navalny’s widow Yulia and his daughter Dasha Navalnaya in San Francisco.

“The president expressed his admiration for Alexei Navalny’s extraordinary courage and his legacy of fighting against corruption and for a free and democratic Russia,” the White House said in a statement, adding that the US was preparing to issue new sanctions on Russia.

Source BBC news