Naballni's Body Whereabouts Unknown... Associate Says "Putin Ordered Killing and Hid Traces"

Published 18 Feb.2024 08:15(KST)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The whereabouts of the body of Russian anti-government activist Alexei Navalny, who died in prison, remain unclear.

On the 17th (local time), according to the British BBC and the American daily The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Navalny's associates claimed that he was killed under the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and that Russian authorities are deliberately withholding the body to hide any traces. The location of Navalny's body has not been confirmed.

Navalny, considered President Putin's biggest political rival, died on the 16th at the No. 3 prison in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, the northernmost Siberian region of Russia.

Navalny led anti-government movements by exposing corruption among high-ranking Russian officials through the Anti-Corruption Foundation he established in 2011. However, he was sentenced to over 30 years in prison on charges including illegal acquisition of funds, extremist activities, and fraud, and had been serving his sentence since January 2021.

According to Navalny's associates, his mother heard that her son's body had been moved to the nearby town of Salekhard near the prison and went there, but the morgue was closed and she was told that the body was not there. The cause of Navalny's death has not yet been clearly revealed.

The Russian Federal Prison Service stated that Navalny collapsed and lost consciousness after a walk and died, and that they are investigating the exact cause of death. Navalny's mother was told that she could receive her son's body after the autopsy was completed. Prison officials reportedly told Navalny's mother that no conclusion about the cause of death was reached in the first autopsy and that a second autopsy was necessary.

Navalny's colleague Ivan Zhdanov posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Navalny's mother and lawyer were told the cause of death was "sudden death syndrome."

Navalny's associates claim that he was murdered and that President Putin is behind it. However, they have not presented clear evidence. Navalny's spokesperson Kira Yarmysh asserted on social media, "I am convinced that Navalny was murdered and that Putin personally gave the order."

The Kremlin stated that it "cannot tolerate" the accusations of responsibility for Navalny's death directed at them. They did not immediately respond to foreign media requests for comments on Yarmysh's remarks.