Alexei Navalny's mother has called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to immediately hand over the body of her son so that she can bury him.
“I appeal to you, Vladimir Putin, the decision depends only on you. Let me finally see my son,” Lyudmila Navalnaya said in a video filmed outside the Arctic prison where her son died Friday.
“I demand that Alexei’s body be handed over immediately so that I can bury him humanely,” she added.
Russian investigators told Navalny’s family and lawyers Monday that they will not release his body for at least another two weeks as they conduct a “chemical examination” to determine the cause of his death.
The 47-year-old Kremlin critic died Friday at an Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year prison sentence on “extremism” charges widely seen as retribution for his criticism of Putin.
Navalny's allies and Western countries have blamed the Russian authorities for his death, accusations which the Kremlin called “absolutely unfounded and vulgar.”
The late activist's widow Yulia Navalnaya promised Monday to release the details of “why exactly Putin killed Alexei” as she vowed to continue her husband’s work.
