Russian authorities have transferred the body of opposition leader Alexei A. Navalny to his mother, his spokeswoman said Saturday, ending a grim battle over custody of his remains, but it is unclear whether he will receive a funeral in which he can attended by the public. .
“Alexei’s body has been handed over to his mother,” Mr Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Jarmis said in a statement. was posted on social media. “The funeral hasn’t come yet. We don’t know if the authorities will intervene in its implementation in the way the family wants and as Alexei deserves.”
Mr Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, was still on Saturday in the northern town of Salekhard, near the Arctic prison where Mr Navalny was reported to have died on February 16, Ms Yarmysh said. He added that the opposition leader’s team would release information about the funeral “as it becomes available”.
Mr Navalny’s family and aides accused the Russian authorities of holding his body hostage and of “blackmailing” his mother into agreeing to bury him in secret. On Friday, Ms. Yarmysh said officials at Salekhard gave Ms. Navalnaya an ultimatum demanding that she consent to such a secret funeral within three hours or she would be buried in prison.
This deadline passed on Friday night without any new information from Mr. Navalny’s aides. Russian authorities have not commented on the Navalny group’s version of events. The circumstances of Mr Navalny’s death remain unclear. according to Ms. Yarmysh, Ms. Navalnaya received a medical report earlier this week that said she died of natural causes.
The news that Ms Navalny, 69, had been given custody of the body suggested Russian authorities had relented after a days-long social media campaign by Mr Navalny’s team. On Saturday, Mr. Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, 47, posted a six-minute video on YouTube accusing President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia of maligning his professed Christian values ​​as he “mocks Aleksei’s mother and forces her to agree to a secret funeral.”
The question now is how Mr Navalny’s funeral will take place. The dispute over custody of his body appears to reflect Kremlin fears that a public funeral in Moscow would become the focus of protest.
