MOSCOW: The mother of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has filed a lawsuit at a court in the Arctic city of Salekhard contesting officials鈥� refusal to release her son鈥檚 body, Russia鈥檚 state news agency Tass reported Wednesday.
A closed-door hearing has been scheduled for March 4, the report said, quoting court officials.
Lyudmila Navalnaya has been trying to retrieve her son鈥檚 body since Saturday, following his death in a penal colony in Russia鈥檚 far north a day earlier. She has been unable to find out where his body is being held, Navalny鈥檚 team reported.
On Wednesday, Navalnaya laid flowers and a picture of her son at a monument dedicated to journalists in Salekhard, close to the prison where Navalny died. Floral tributes that Navalnaya had left a day earlier at the town鈥檚 memorial to the victims of repression had been cleared away overnight, while several police officers continued to keep watch close to the monument.
Navalnaya appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday to release her son鈥檚 remains so that she could bury him with dignity.
鈥淔or the fifth day, I have been unable to see him. They wouldn鈥檛 release his body to me. And they鈥檙e not even telling me where he is,鈥� a black-clad Navalnaya, 69, said in the video, with the barbed wire of Penal Colony No. 3 in Kharp, about 1,900 kilometers (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow.
鈥淚鈥檓 reaching out to you, Vladimir Putin. The resolution of this matter depends solely on you. Let me finally see my son. I demand that Alexei鈥檚 body is released immediately, so that I can bury him like a human being,鈥� she said in the video, which was posted to social media by Navalny鈥檚 team.
Russian authorities have said the cause of Navalny鈥檚 death is still unknown and refused to release his body for the next two weeks as the preliminary inquest continues, members of Navalny鈥檚 team said.
They accused the government of stalling to try to hide evidence. On Monday, Navalny鈥檚 widow, Yulia, released a video accusing Putin of killing her husband and alleged the refusal to release his body was part of a cover-up.
鈥淭hey are cowardly and meanly hiding his body, refusing to give it to his mother and lying miserably,鈥� she said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the allegations of a cover-up, telling reporters that 鈥渢hese are absolutely unfounded, insolent accusations about the head of the Russian state.鈥�
Navalny鈥檚 death has deprived the Russian opposition of its best-known and inspiring politician less than a month before an election that is all but certain to give Putin another six years in power. Many Russians had seen Navalny as a rare hope for political change amid Putin鈥檚 unrelenting crackdown on the opposition.
Since Navalny鈥檚 death, about 400 people have been detained across in Russia as they tried to pay tribute to him with flowers and candles, according to OVD-Info, a group that monitors political arrests. Authorities cordoned off some of the memorials to victims of Soviet repression across the country that were being used as sites to leave makeshift tributes to Navalny. Police removed the flowers at night, but more keep appearing.
Several men who were detained at memorials to Navalny were also ordered to report to their local army recruitment office, where Russian authorities are actively recruiting volunteer soldiers and updating records of men eligible for service, according to Go by the Forest, an activist group helping Russians to avoid military service.
Peskov said police were acting 鈥渋n accordance with the law鈥� by detaining people paying tribute to Navalny.
Over 75,000 people have submitted requests to the government asking for Navalny鈥檚 remains to be handed over to his relatives, OVD-Info said.