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FILE PHOTO: Lyudmila Navalnaya, the mother of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and his lawyer Alexei Tsvetkov walk out of an office of the Investigative Committee's regional department in the city of Salekhard in the Yamal-Nenets Region, Russia, February 19, 2024.
Russian authorities releasedAlexei Navalny’s body to his mother February 24, nine days after the opposition leader died at an Arctic penal colony. Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, and mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, had been repeatedly demanding its return, accusing President Vladimir Putin of concealing evidence in Navalny’s murder.
“You tortured him alive, and now you keep torturing him dead. You mock the remains of the dead,” Yulia Navalnaya said in a video message to Putin. She also questioned Putin’s oft-professed Christian faith, saying “No true Christian could ever do what Putin is now doing with the body of Alexei.”
What does Putin fear?
Since Navalny’s death, at least four hundred people had been detained for laying flowers and publicly expressing their grief, including 32 during commemorations on Saturday.
The concern is that these protests could multiply, according to opposition figureMikhail Khodorkovsky, "There could be large-scale confrontations in Moscow.” While so far they have not materialized, with Russian Presidential elections less than three weeks away, Putin has no interest in protests spoiling his victory party.