Navalny’s mother says Russian authorities pressuring ‘secret’ burial
Al Jazeera
Lyudmila Navalnaya says investigators are trying to set conditions on where, when and how the prominent Kremlin critic should be buried.
The mother of Alexey Navalny has said Russian authorities are pressing her to bury the opposition leader’s body in “secret”.
Speaking in a video message posted on YouTube on Thursday, Lyudmila Navalnaya said Russian authorities had allowed her to see her son’s body in the morgue.
She said investigators were “blackmailing” her over the funeral of the Kremlin critic, who died in detention last week, and trying to force her to hold a private burial ceremony without mourners.
“They want this to be done secretly, with no farewell. They want to bring me to the edge of a cemetery, to a fresh grave and say: ‘Here lies your son.’ I don’t agree to this,” she said.
There was no immediate comment from Russian authorities.