The late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s team alleged Tuesday that funeral agencies have been prohibited from collaborating with the dissident’s family and supporters about his burial.
“Since yesterday, we have been looking for a place to hold Alexei’s farewell. We have contacted various private and public funeral agencies, commercial venues and funeral parlors,” said Navalny’s press secretary, Kira Yarmysh.
Navalny’s team aims to organize an open event by Friday. However, “In one place we were directly told that funeral agencies were prohibited from working with us,” Yarmysh added.
The family of the opposition leader, who was reported to have collapsed and died on Feb. 16 after a walk in the penal colony where he was being held north of the Arctic circle, had to battle with Russian authorities for access to Navalny’s remains after his death.
The body was only handed over to the family a week after his death, on Feb. 24. That followed a row in which Navalny’s family accused law enforcement of trying to pressure them into ensuring the details of the funeral remain private, and demanding Navalny’s mother keep the flight bringing his body to Moscow and morgue address secret.
Denis Leven is hosted at POLITICO under the EU-funded EU4FreeMedia residency program.
