“We demand that Alexey Navalny’s body be handed over to his family immediately,” it said.
It was unclear where his body was, as a morgue near the Arctic prison where he died said it had not received the body, according to his team.
Prison authorities on Friday reported that Navalny, widely seen as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s number one political foe, had died after losing consciousness following a walk. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the death and the news received broad coverage by international and Russian media.
But some of Navalny’s closest allies warned that his relatives had not been informed of his death, a requirement by law, giving them reason to hold out a glimmer of hope.
But when Navalny’s mother and one of his lawyers arrived at the Salekhard morgue near the Arctic Circle, they found it closed, while the high-security penal colony where Navalny had been held assured them it is working and that Navalny’s body is there, Yarmysh said in a message on X on Saturday afternoon.
“The lawyer called the phone number which was on the door. He was told he was the seventh caller today. Alexey’s body is not in the morgue,” the spokesperson said.
