Kremlin accused of cover-up regarding Navalny's body whereabouts and cause of death
Friends and allies of Alexei Navalny have pointed fingers at the Kremlin, alleging a cover-up. This comes two days after the death of the imprisoned opposition leader in a prison and authorities still can't account for the location of his body or establish a definitive cause of death.
3:49 AM EST, February 19, 2024
Navalny's mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, and a legal representative visited the "Polar Wolf" IK-3 penal colony in Northern Russia over the weekend. The prison has held Navalny since last year and they were there to collect his remains, but they received ambiguous details from various institutions regarding the body's location.
Initially, it was communicated to Lyudmila that her son's remains had been transported to Salekhard, a town near the prison complex. However, upon her arrival at the morgue on Saturday, she found it closed. "They run us around in circles and cover up traces", voiced Navalny's spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh.
Navalny's demise in a Russian penal colony
In an official statement from the prison services dated February 16, it was claimed that Alexei Navalny fainted and lost consciousness shortly after taking a routine walk within the penal colony. Unsuccessful resuscitation efforts supposedly led to his subsequent death.
Contradicting details have surfaced from independent media regarding the premises provided by the authorities. Discrepancies include claims that Navalny was out in the exercise yard during mealtimes and that an ambulance covered a distance of 35 km (approximately 22 miles) within 7 minutes. The rapid dissemination of the news by state media also raises doubt.
