Allies of Alexei Navalny have accused Russian authorities of “doing everything they can” to “avoid” handing his body over to his family.
Spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh confirmed that Mr Navalny – the most prominent face of the Russian opposition to Mr Putin – had died at a remote Arctic penal colony on Friday.
She claimed the 47-year-old had been “murdered”. However, she said lawyers for Mr Navalny had been told by authorities that “no crime had been found” following an investigation.
Meanwhile, Mr Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, on Saturday travelled to the prison where her son was being held up until his death.
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She was told by prison officials that her son died on 16 February at 2.17pm local time as a result of “sudden death syndrome”, according to prominent Navalny ally Ivan Zhdanov.
However, authorities have not yet released his body. His family and allies have also been “driven around in circles” attempting to locate it, according to Ms Yarmysh.
She said Mr Navalny’s mother had been told by a prison official that her son’s body had been taken to the nearby city of Salekhard as part of a probe into his death.
But when she and Mr Navalny’s lawyers arrived at the morgue, it was closed, and workers said the body was not there.
Hours later, Ms Yarmysh said lawyers for the politician were told Mr Navalny’s body would not be handed over to his relatives until an investigation into his death had been completed.
“The results will supposedly be available next week. It’s obvious that they are lying and doing everything they can to avoid handing over the body,” she said on X.
She accused the Investigation Committee in Salekhard of “driving us around in circles and covering their tracks” as only hours before they were told the investigation had already been concluded, and nothing criminal had been established.
Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service reported on Friday that Mr Navalny felt sick after a walk and became unconscious at the penal colony in the town of Kharp, in the Yamalo-Nenets region, which is within the Arctic Circle.
More than 400 detained in Russia
Meanwhile, more than 400 people have been detained in Russia since the moment Mr Navalny’s death became public, according to independent human rights organisation OVD-Info.
The arrests, at least half of which were made on Saturday, were made across 32 Russian cities.
OVD-Info said others had been detained the day before when they came to lay flowers in memory of Mr Navalny.
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Among the held included a priest who went to a memorial in St Petersburg to conduct a service in the politician’s memory.
In Moscow, social media footage showed a large group of people chanting “shame” as police dragged a screaming woman from the crowd.
Putin ‘should be held accountable’
Hours after Mr Navalny’s death was reported, his wife, Yulia Navalnaya, made a dramatic appearance at a security conference in Germany where many world leaders had gathered.
She said that she was unsure if she could believe the news from official Russian sources, “but if this is true, I want Putin and everyone around Putin, Putin’s friends, his government to know that they will bear responsibility for what they did to our country, to my family and to my husband”.
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US President Joe Biden was also asked about the news while out in Delaware and said: “I’ve heard several things, I haven’t had it confirmed.
“But the fact of the matter is, Putin is responsible. Whether he ordered it, he’s responsible for the circumstances they put that man in. And it’s a reflection of who he is.
“It just cannot be tolerated.”
Reacting, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he was “moved” by Mrs Navalnaya’s words, adding that Russia has to be held to account.
It came after the UK’s Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said: “We should hold Putin accountable for this. And no one should be in any doubt about the dreadful nature of Putin’s regime in Russia after what has just happened.”
Foreign ministers of the G7 – made up of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and US – have called on Russia to fully clarify the circumstances of Mr Navalny’s death.
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