Navalny's final journey is accompanied by threats and intimidation. at
Alexei Navalny, a well-known Kremlin dissident, is to be buried in the Russian capital Moscow on Friday, two weeks after his death in a prison camp. Navalny's relatives had to search for his body for several days, and were then apparently harassed and threatened by representatives of the regime, with fears that the Russian power apparatus might crack down on Navalny's supporters in this case.
A funeral service is scheduled for 2 p.m. local time (12 p.m. CET) at the “Remove My Sorrow” Mother of God church in the southeastern Margino district, Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmish confirmed Thursday. Two hours later, the burial will take place at Borisov Cemetery, a half-hour's walk southeast of the Russian capital.
Patrols and controls around the cemetery
A police patrol was seen around the cemetery on Thursday. According to independent media, authorities also searched ID cards and bags of passers-by. Also, numerous barricades were brought to the cemetery grounds. In the past few weeks, hundreds of people have been arrested across Russia for wanting to lay flowers at monuments to the well-known opposition politician. According to Navalny's mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, the Kremlin wanted to bury Navalny in secret. Jarmish took to the X platform (formerly Twitter) to complain that authorities continue to block funeral arrangements. A mortuary could not be arranged yet. Moscow funeral homes received threatening calls from unknown persons, warning them not to transport the body, Yarmish wrote.
According to official reports, Navalny died on February 16 at the age of 47 in a prison camp north of the Arctic Circle. A sharp critic of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin was severely weakened physically by a poison attack in 2020 and continued solitary confinement in the camp. His supporters and many international observers agree that there can be no question of a “natural” cause of death, as stated on the death certificate. (APA)
