Alexei Navalny's mother was informed this Saturday (17) that the most prominent Russian opponent was affected by “sudden death syndrome” and that his body would not be handed over to the family until an investigation is completed.
Navalny fell unconscious and died on Friday after a walk in the Siberian “Polar Wolf” penal colony, about 1,900 kilometers northeast of Moscow, where he was serving a three-decade sentence.
Western leaders paid tribute to Navalny's courage and, without citing evidence, accused President Vladimir Putin of being responsible for his death. The Kremlin said the West's reaction was unacceptable and “absolutely angry.” Putin has not yet commented on Navalny's death.
Navalny's mother Lyudmila, 69, braved arctic temperatures of -30C to visit the penal colony where her son died.
She received an official death notice giving the time of death as 2:17 pm local time (6:17 am Brasília time) on February 16, Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh told Reuters.
“When Alexei's lawyer and mother arrived at the prison this morning, they were told that the cause of Navalny's death was 'sudden death syndrome,'” Ivan Zhdanov, who heads Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, said on the platform social network X (formerly Twitter).
“Sudden death syndrome” is a vague term for different cardiac syndromes that cause sudden cardiac arrest and death.
Navalny's body
It is also unclear where Navalny's body is, his team said.
His mother was told that the body had been taken to Salekhard, the town near the prison complex, but when she arrived at the town's morgue it was closed.
When contacted by Navalny's lawyer, the morgue said it did not have Navalny's body, Yarmysh said.
Officials later told them that the body would not be handed over until the investigation was complete, although they had previously been told that the investigation had not uncovered any traces of foul play.
“At this moment we do not have access to the body and we do not know for sure where it is, and we demand that the Russian authorities immediately hand over Alexei’s body to his family,” Yarmysh said in an interview.
Source: CNN Brasil
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