KHARP, Russia (Reuters) – Alexei Navalny’s mother was informed on Saturday that the Russian opponent had died of “sudden death syndrome” and that an investigation had to be carried out before the deceased’s body was handed over to his family, said those around him.
A 47-year-old former lawyer, Alexei Navalny lost consciousness before dying on Friday after a walk in the “Polar Wolf” penal colony in Kharp, an establishment located about 1,900 km northeast of Moscow where he was serving a prison sentence. 30 years in prison, prison authorities reported.
Western leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, have praised Navalny’s courage and accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being responsible for his death, without providing evidence. Britain warned of the consequences of this disappearance for Russia.
The Kremlin has described Western reactions to the death of Alexeï Navalny as “absolutely rabid”, on which Vladimir Putin has, for his part, not yet commented.
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Lyudmila, the deceased’s 69-year-old mother, braved temperatures of -30°C on Saturday to go to the penal colony where her son died.
The official obituary given to him indicates death at 2:17 p.m. local time (09:17 GMT) on February 16, Alexei Navalny’s spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, told Reuters.
“When Alexei’s lawyer and mother arrived at the colony this morning, they were told that the cause of Navalny’s death was sudden death syndrome,” Ivan Zhdanov, who heads the deceased opponent’s Anti-Corruption Foundation.
“Sudden death syndrome” is a vague term for different syndromes causing sudden cardiac arrest leading to death.
NOTHING AT THE MORGUE
It is also unclear where Navalny’s body is, his team said. His mother learned that the body had been taken to Salekhard, a town near the prison complex, but when she arrived there, the morgue was closed.
Contacted by Navalny’s lawyer, a morgue employee said he did not have the body, Kira Yarmysh said.
Authorities later told them the body would not be released to the family until the investigation was complete, after previously saying investigations had revealed no signs of foul play.
“At the moment we do not have access to the body and we do not know for sure where it is, and we demand that the Russian authorities immediately hand over Alexei’s body to his family,” Kira Yarmysh said.
Across Russia at least 270 people have been arrested during protests and rallies marking support for Alexei Navalny and the causes he defended.
For opponents of Vladimir Putin, his death illustrates how dangerous Russia has become 32 years after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
“Alexei is not dead, he was murdered,” said Kira Yarmysh.
“We have lost our leader, but we have not lost our ideas or our convictions,” she added.
(Reporting by Reuters with contributions from Gleb Stolyarov in Tbilisi; French version Kate Entringer and Elizabeth Pineau)
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