Alexei Navalny's Mother Sues To Retrieve Son's Body In Russian Court
HuffPost
The body of Vladimir Putin's longtime foe is being hidden, his mother alleged.
The mother of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has filed a lawsuit in Russian court seeking her son’s body for burial, the state news agency Tass reported Wednesday.
Since Navalny’s sudden death Friday at age 47, his mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, has accused Russian officials of concealing his remains.
She filed her appeal in the city of Salekhard, around 30 miles from the Polar Wolf facility where Navalny spent his last months. The court scheduled a closed-door hearing March 4 to address her claim, The Associated Press reported, delaying the prospect of a swift funeral.
Polar Wolf is notoriously brutal. According to the BBC, prisoners are subjected to collective punishment that can involve standing outside in Arctic winter temperatures without coats, or being doused with water outside in the cold.
Navalnaya filmed a video near the facility earlier this week appealing directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin for her son’s release.
