CRUEL CHOICE
Putin gives Navalny’s mum agonising ultimatum to agree to secret burial or have body forever entombed in hellhole jail
Russia has claimed Navalny died of natural causes
ALEXEI Navalny's grieving mum has been offered a grim ultimatum by Vladimir Putin that could see her son's body remain in jail forever.
The president's officials tonight threatened to bury the Russian opposition leader in the hellhole Siberian prison where he died.
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The cruel proposition asked Navalny's mum to choose between two alternatives: agree to a secret funeral in an undisclosed location or have her son's body forever entombed in the Polar Wolf jail.
Putin's most formidable domestic opponent Navalny, 47, died in prison last week while serving a 19-year sentence on trumped-up extremism charges.
It was alleged his body was found covered in bruises, as members of his camp - and Western leaders - asserted he was "murdered" on the direct orders of Putin.
Navalny's mother Lyudmila Navalnaya, 69, was today given just three hours to decide the fate of her son's body, ultimately refusing to bow to the Putin officials.
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An associate of Navalny, Ivan Zhdanov, explained: "An investigator called Alexei’s mother and gave her an ultimatum.
"Either she agrees to a secret funeral without a public farewell within three hours, or Alexei will be buried in the [penal] colony where he died.”
If Navalny is buried inside the walls of the prison, his supporters and loved ones will be separated from his grave by barbed wire and unable to mourn or leave tributes at his grave.
Zhdanov continued: "She demands compliance with the law, which obliges investigators to hand over the body within two days from the moment the cause of death is established.
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"According to the medical documents she signed, these two days expire tomorrow.
"She insists that the authorities allow the funeral and memorial service to be held in accordance with customs."
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He summarised the situation by stating: "Firstly, a murder [of Alexei Navalny] is concealed.
"Secondly, they are afraid that the funeral will be really massive."
Lyudmila made an emotional address to Putin on Tuesday from outside the Polar Wolf jail, calling on the president to release his body to allow for a humane burial.
She was finally allowed to see his body yesterday - as Russia insisted he died of "natural causes".
In a video statement released yesterday afternoon, she accused Russian officials of trying to blackmail her into holding a "secret" funeral for her son.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden met with Navalny's widow Yulia and daughter Dasha in California - and called Putin a "crazy son of a b****".
According to Zhdanov, it was in the Kremlin's interest to demand a "hidden" burial, as they do not want to see pictures of the "hero".
He said that Putin would be seeking a private ceremony similar to that which was held for Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin last year.
Navalny's associate explained: "They want it to be like with the bandit [Yevgeny] Prigozhin.
"To bury him quietly somewhere in a corner so that no one knows or sees him. This suits them fine."
Prigozhin died in August when his plane was blown up in a suspected Kremlin assassination.
There are basic universal principles: you cannot mock a mother and blackmail her with the body of her murdered son
Ivan Zhdanov
Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service said on Friday, February 16 that the Putin critic had "felt unwell" after taking a walk in the corrective colony, "almost immediately losing consciousness".
Officials claimed that medical staff were unable to save him.
Later in the day, a state-controlled channel on Telegram claimed that he had died of a blood clot.
But on Saturday, February 17, Navalny's mother and his lawyer were informed he had died of "sudden death syndrome".
Navalny's heartbroken widow Yulia Navalnaya suggested on Monday, February 19 that he was killed using novichok, the nerve agent which FSB assassins used in their attempt to kill him in August 2020.
It was later claimed that he died of a single punch to the heart - a brutal method that was supposedly once a "hallmark of the KGB";.
Zhdanov issued an appeal to police, troops, and FSB agents to reveal the truth of his associate's death.
He told them: "It doesn’t matter what your status is or whether you share the political views of Alexei Navalny.
"There are basic universal principles: you cannot mock a mother and blackmail her with the body of her murdered son.
"You cannot and should not support this. Show humanity, show sympathy for the mother who lost her son.
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"Do not support Putin's absolutely hellish cruelty and immoral crimes."
He asked that anyone with information related to the "murder" of Navalny come forward with what they know, promising 20,000 euros (£17,000) and "organisation of departure from the country", if desired, in return.
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Navalny's death was 'inevitable'
By Jerome Starkey, The Sun's Defence Editor
NAVALNY'S death is shocking - but there's also a sense of inevitability about this.
His spokesperson had warned that they thought he was being slowly killed in prison.
And indeed, the lifespan of Kremlin critics is tragically short.
It was astonishing in many ways that Alexei Navalny had survived.
We've had Latvia's president calling this a brutal murder by the Kremlin.
We've had President Zelensky of Ukraine, saying Putin killed him.
Germany's Chancellor Olaf Schulz and France's Foreign Minister are saying that Navalny paid for his principles with his life.
There is certainly no doubt that as a result of his political activism. As a result of daring to stand up to Vladimir Putin.
Alexei Navalny exposed himself to enormous risk and hardship. We know that he was poisoned.
We know that he's been jailed. He's been held in horrific conditions. Indeed, you know.
Many, many days of his time in this penal colony have been in solitary confinement in punishment cells.
His health appears to have been deteriorating. So in that sense, you know, he's been jailed by the regime that Putin leads.
He's been poisoned with a nerve agent, a military grade nerve agent that is only really available to Putin's assassins.
And that clearly would have had long-term health implications. So in that sense, clearly the Kremlin regime, led by Vladimir Putin, is culpable for his death.
It is not clear yet exactly what caused his death. But there's no doubt that the Kremlin regime, led by Vladimir Putin, is culpable to some extent because of what they've inflicted.
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