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Two weeks after his mysterious dying in a distant Arctic penal colony, Russia's most distinguished opposition chief Alexei A. Lengthy queues of individuals fashioned in Moscow on Friday for Navalny's funeral, a few of whom have been carrying flowers.
Hours earlier than the deliberate funeral rites, Mr Navalny's household had not acquired his physique from a Moscow morgue, a spokesperson mentioned, However the physique was lastly handed over round 12:30 pm native time, he mentioned.
The service was being deliberate beneath strain from Russian authorities, who’ve arrested tons of of mourners at memorial websites since Mr Navalny's dying. There was a heavy police presence across the church the place funeral companies have been scheduled to happen within the afternoon.
The companies are being held on the Church of the Icon of the Mom of God Sooth My Sorrows, a Russian Orthodox church in southern Moscow. Photographs on social media confirmed attendees lining up, however native information media reported safety cameras had additionally not too long ago been put in, and mourners have been barred from taking pictures or video within the church. There are indicators additionally.
Nonetheless, Ivan Zhdanov, who, like a lot of Mr Navalny's shut associates, is in exile exterior Russia, inspired individuals to come back to church and mentioned police weren’t arresting mourners, as many Folks have been afraid.
“Individuals are coming to bid farewell, and nobody is touching them,” Mr. Zhdanov mentioned. “Those that want to come to bid farewell could come.” Supporters of Mr Navalny additionally created an internet site for supporters to mild a digital candle in his reminiscence.
Requested on Friday if he might touch upon Mr Navalny's political legacy, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry S. Peskov mentioned, “I can't.” He prompt that the Kremlin would crack down on anybody who tried to protest through the funeral. “Any unsanctioned gathering can be a violation of the regulation,” Mr. Peskov informed reporters throughout a every day telephone name.
The funeral was not talked about within the prime tales on state information businesses RIA Novosti or TASS.
Over the previous two weeks, members of Mr Navalny's crew complained repeatedly concerning the problem in negotiating with Russian authorities to return Mr Navalny's physique to his household, which took a number of days, and funeral companies. The place was agreed upon.
Members of his crew described problem in convincing a church, a cemetery and even a hearse to take part within the burial, including that officers have been stopping Mr Navalny's funeral from turning into a problem of disagreement. Needed to cease.
On Thursday, allies of Mr Navalny, who was 47, described systemic strain on all hearse operators, saying that those that had agreed to take Mr Navalny's physique from the church to the cemetery had confronted threats. Citing this, they’d withdrawn their steps on the final second. His crew and his spouse blamed the Kremlin and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. His claims couldn’t be independently verified.
Mr Navalny's widow Yulia Navalnaya mentioned, “There are two individuals guilty for the truth that we should not have a spot for a civil memorial service and a farewell to Alexei – Vladimir Putin and Sergei Sobyanin.” Wrote on social platform on Wednesday.
“The individuals within the Kremlin killed him, then they mocked Alexei's physique, then they mocked his mom, and now they’re mocking his reminiscence,” he mentioned. “We don't need any particular remedy – simply to provide individuals the chance to say goodbye to Alexei as regular.”
Whereas Mr Navalny opposed Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the church the place he might be buried has proven public assist for it. Images posted on its VK social media web page on Monday confirmed monks in entrance of the church with a Lada automobile, which Russia purchased for troopers participating in its “particular navy operation.”
Two days earlier, a publish confirmed letters despatched by younger parishioners to troopers for “Defenders of the Fatherland” Day, a vacation celebrating veterans.
In response to Mr Navalny's spokesman, the official medical report concluded that the reason for dying was “pure causes”, which his household, supporters and human rights displays dispute. Over the previous yr and a half, Mr Navalny was ordered to spend 296 days in a punishment isolation cell, identified in Russian as a “schizo”. It’s thought of probably the most extreme type of authorized punishment for prisoners in Russian prisons.
“They tortured him with starvation, they tortured him with chilly,” Leonid Volkov, an aide to Mr Navalny, mentioned throughout a livestream of the funeral on his YouTube channel. For half a yr, he was suing to realize entry to the dentist, which was in the end denied.
The Kremlin has rejected the household's allegations of involvement, and Mr Putin has not commented publicly on Mr Navalny's dying. However the Russian chief approved the order to advertise Valery Boyarinev to deputy director of the nation's Federal Penitentiary Service simply three days after Mr Navalny's dying.
And Mr Putin appeared defiant in an annual speech on Thursday, threatening the West with nuclear escalation and praising Russia's political system as “one of many foundations of the nation's sovereignty”.
Mr Navalny's funeral comes throughout a interval of intense motion, and fewer than three weeks earlier than Mr Putin seeks one other six-year time period in elections in mid-March.
At the least 400 individuals have been detained since Mr Navalny's dying, in line with the watchdog OVD-Information, together with some for laying flowers at his makeshift memorials. A priest searching for to conduct funeral prayers for Mr Navalny in St Petersburg was detained as he left his dwelling.
Oleg Orlov, one among Russia's most revered rights activists, whose group Memorial shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, was sentenced to 2 and a half years in jail for an article he wrote condemning the invasion of Ukraine.
Native information media reported on Friday that police have been checking the passports of each attendee of Mr Navalny's funeral throughout a safety examine earlier than entry into the church. These reviews couldn’t be independently verified.
Evgeny Smirnov, a rights lawyer, informed impartial tv station Ren that there have been fears that anybody attending the funeral could possibly be added to the database and probably punished at a later date. Mr Navalny's group shared info whereas providing authorized counsel to individuals planning to mourn him.
Oleg Matsnev Contributed to the reporting.